


Those Who Favor Fire

by TheWolfWrites



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alpha Chloe, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Girl Penis, Omega Rachel, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Porn With Plot, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2019-08-29 22:53:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16752997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWolfWrites/pseuds/TheWolfWrites
Summary: Chloe’s world was turned upside down when she was 14 and her best friend moved away on the same week that her Dad died.Now, 3 years later, Chloe spends most of her time with a pack of alphas lead by Arcadia Bay’s biggest criminal and is well on her way to becoming one of them, right up until the moment Rachel Amber—her school’s golden girl and most desirable Omega—crashes into her life and turns her entire world upside down again.Hopefully this time it will be for the better, but Chloe isn't holding her breath on it.





	1. The hint of a spark

_ Firewalk is going to be at the Old Mill tonight.  _

Chloe growled under her breath, the sound lost to the wind that rushed in from the open cargo door of the rail-car she was currently standing in.

Outside, the night was cold and the trees flew past the door faster than Chloe could follow them and she eyed them with trepidation. 

_ Firewalk is going to be at the Old Mill tonight, and so am I. _

“Unless I break a leg jumping off this thing” Chloe finished, breathing hard as she shuffled closer to the edge of the rail-car. “Or a fucking tree snaps my back.” 

When Damon had first told her—with that smug smile of his that should have been Chloe’s first clue that he was up to something—that the only way he was letting her inside the Mill for the concert was if she got there by train Chloe had barely attention. She had been too caught up on the excitement of knowing that Firewalk, one of her favorites bands ever, was coming to sleepy town Arcadia Bay to care. 

Train hopping was often the fastest way to get to either the Mill or American Rust—Chloe’s main hangout spots—and she did it all the time. The train slowed down for the stretch near American Rust in fear of debris from the junkyard ending up in the tracks and it made jumping off a breeze.

If she left early enough, Chloe could jump off the train at her usual spot near the junkyard and hike her way back through the forest to the Old Mill in time for the concert, no sweat. 

So, of course Damon had to fuck it all up. 

He had sent a spindly Beta with sunken eyes that always managed to creep Chloe out to keep her from getting on any of the trains until it was just about time for Firewalk’s show to start. That left Chloe with no choice except to jump off the train at The Landing (as Damon unironically called a stretch of grass free of trees that was right in front of the Old Mill) or stick to her old plan and end up missing most, if not all, of Firewalk’s concert on the hike to the Mill. 

_ And that’s not going to happen. No way. Not if I have any say in it.  _

“Damon said his boys did this all the time, back in the day,” Chloe said, taking a deep breath and edging closer to the edge of the cargo door. She could feel herself shaking, badly, but the Landing was coming up fast and she couldn't afford to miss it. “Now, he’s probably full of shit and just wants you dead, but maybe he's actually telling the truth and you’re just afraid to try something that fucking Frank used to do at your age, either way—” 

The last tree before the Landing whizzed by the edge of her vision and, surprising even herself, Chloe jumped out.

It was a powerful leap, one that would clear the path of the train with ease. She had the form nailed down too, with her arms raised high in the air like she was taking a dive towards into a pool instead of towards the hard ground. 

The next instant her hands made contact with the grass, a dull pain in Chloe’s wrist leading her arms to fold into position, with her head tucked towards the chest and right shoulder down, leading the roll forward. It went well, too. The world turned upside down for a dizzying instant, colors blurring into each other until Chloe’s back slammed into the ground,  _ hard _ , and she felt the air rushed out of her lungs. 

Chloe grunted, turning sideways with a loud gasp. The sensation was familiar, but it did nothing to quell her desperation as the air refused to come, no matter how hard she tried to breathe. 

It felt like it went on forever, but the train hadn’t even finished rushing by when a loud wheeze turned into a deep breath and air rushed back into Chloe’s lungs, bringing with it the awareness of pain in the middle of her back and full body shivers that she hadn't noticed before. 

It was awful, and yet…

“I did it,” Chloe gasped, pushing herself onto her hands and knees. “I fucking did it.” 

Granted, the landing could use some work—she was supposed to keep rolling forward, maybe even end up back on her feet with a little jump, like the guy on the tutorial, not sprawled on her back and winded to hell—but Chloe had honest to god jumped off a speeding train and lived to tell the tale. 

“Fuck yeah!” 

Chloe climbed to her feet like a drunkard, swaying side to side and feeling both like a million bucks and beaten to hell. Once there, she stretched a bit, making sure everything was working okay (and it was,  _ mostly _ , even if her back felt scrubbed raw and hurt every time she moved a bit too much) before shaking her hoodie down and, still brimming with adrenaline, rushed down the old dirt track that lead to the Old Mill with a reckless grin. 

When a dim light appeared between the trees Chloe hurried her pace, vaulting over the fence that Damon had made her install years ago—” _ to keep away other brats like you, one half grown pup is more than enough for my pack” _ —until she saw a small bonfire surrounded by cars and, not too far behind it, the towering form of the Old Mill.

The Mill was still as foreboding as usual, with boarded up windows and the half rotten walls filled with mismatched wood panels nailed to the worse parts as reinforcements, but tonight the whole place felt alive with the sound of people having fun by the bonfire and the thumping of music and flashes of light that came from inside the building.

Further ahead, Chloe spied a line of people clustering around the main entrance to the building—a few of them she actually recognized from Blackwell, and wasn’t that ironic considering most of the kids in that stuck up school liked to pretend that everything Chloe did was so far below them—all chattering excitedly as they waited to be allowed inside. 

Chloe skipped the line and went right to the front, ignoring the growling and grumbling from a few of the Alphas standing in line until she saw the man standing at the front, looking bored out of his mind as he checked the ID’s from the people in line and charged them the entrance fee before waving them forward. He was a big, burly Alpha that Damon had hired as muscle a few months back—went by the name of Thunder, of all things—and he was a pretty cool dude, as far as people hanging around Damon went. 

“Hey, Thunder!” Chloe shouted, walking up to him with a grin. “Did I make it on time?” 

Thunder’s face went from boredom to amusement as soon as he caught sight of her. He waved the couple in front of him forward and turned towards Chloe with a smile. “You did, pup, just barely. The warm-up band is just about finished, last I checked. Firewalk is next.” 

“Awesome!” Chloe whooped. Not wanting to hold up the line any longer, Chloe waved Thunder goodbye and walked towards the door.  Before she could get inside, though, Thunder placed his arm across the doorway, stopping her. . 

“What?” Chloe asked, looking up at him. 

All signs of a smile had disappeared from Thunder’s face and Chloe clenched her fists. He better not have another hoop for her to jump through. She had done enough to keep Damon happy tonight as it was. 

Thunder looked at her for a long moment before finally saying: “You really jumped off the train? Right in the middle of the forest?”

Chloe smiled again. This, she could handle. “Fuck yeah I did. It was awesome.”

Thunder sighed, giving Chloe a look that she didn’t like one bit. It felt too much like pity. “You shouldn’t let them bully you into doing things like this, pup. It's not healthy.” 

“Yeah, well,” Chloe said, looking down at the ground. Wherever this conversation was going, she wanted no part of it. Why couldn't he just let her pass and be done with it? “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” 

“I just worry about you, pup.” Thunder said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Chloe barely paid him any attention. From where she was standing, she could pick up the faint sound of the warm-up band, rocking away to cheers from the crowd. Her mind was already in there, and Chloe refused to be held up another second. “You’re gonna get yourself killed if you keep this up.” 

Shaking off his hand, Chloe looked Thunder in the eyes again. “First of all, I’m not a pup anymore, old man. And second, I’m still alive today and ready to party, so why don’t you move out of the way already? You’re holding up the line.” 

There was a grumble of agreement from the girl standing behind Chloe and Thunder sighed again. For a moment, Chloe was sure he was going to say something more. She was already bracing herself for his words when he shook his head and turned his back on Chloe to face the next person in line. 

Chloe frowned, but turned around as well and strode inside without a second glance. 

Once there, Chloe stopped dead on her feet and gasped. The inside of the Mill didn’t used to look much different from the outside—if anything, it used to looked worse, with broken pieces of furniture and machinery strewn about and an even more run down appearance—but Damon had really gone all out with the overhaul. 

There were neon colored lights strewn about everywhere, dim enough that the worst corners of the Mill were carefully hidden, and just bright enough to give it a club like appearance that Chloe had thought impossible to find in sleepy town Arcadia fucking Bay, of all places. On the edges of the room old couches and futons were scattered along the wall and someone had even taken advantage of a little nook on the wall, where parts of the Mill’s inner structure still stood, to set up a good looking bar. 

_ And of course,  _ Chloe thought, directing her gaze to the far side of the Mill,  _ the main event.  _

There, standing tall next to the far wall and lit up by a bunch of reflectors and multicolored lights, Damon had set up a stage for Firewalk to play on. 

It was big, far bigger than Chloe had expected—especially since there had been nothing but dust on that spot the last time she had been here—with big speakers flanking the center of the stage where the drums had been set up and the warm-up band was already filling the room with angry words and loud guitars.

It was everything Chloe had hoped for and more. 

“Move it, bitch! ” The words came accompanied with a shove from the back that brought Chloe back from her musings with a sharp stab of pain. There was an angry Alpha growling at her as he pushed his way past her into the room. It hadn’t been a hard knock, but Chloe’s back still hurt like she had been punched. 

“Fucking train,” Chloe cursed, moving away from the entrance and towards the bar, for lack of something better to do.

It wasn’t particularly full, most people choosing to linger by the stage instead of braving the surely to be overpriced drinks, so Chloe found an empty bar stool fairly quickly. There, she sat down watched as the woman behind the bar mixed some cocktail or another.

She was incredibly pretty, with a head full of blond locks and a wicked looking tattoo running down her left arm. Chloe was sure she had seen her before, maybe hanging around Damon and his crew.

When the woman spotted Chloe, she smiled, ignoring an Alpha man who seemed to want her attention in favor of making her way towards Chloe’s end of the bar with a sultry smile on her lips that made Chloe instantly nervous. 

“What can I get you, stud?” 

Chloe swallowed hard, trying to breath discreetly through her mouth as a wave of pheromones—distinctive even with the cocktail of smells that already permeated the Mill—washed over her. It made her head reel.

An Omega, then. One that Chloe was now sure she had seen hanging off Damon’s arm at some point or another. 

“Just a beer, please.” Chloe said, forcing a smile and making a conscious effort to keep her eyes fixed on the woman’s. “Cheapest one you got.” 

The woman laughed—it was a low pitched sound that was almost enough to make Chloe blush all by itself—and the air immediately felt a bit clearer. Closing her mouth, Chloe sniffed the air tentatively. Sure enough, the Omega’s scent had all but disappeared. 

_ Thank God.  _

The woman scoffed. “Tonight is not a night for cheap beer, stud.” 

She ducked behind the bar and came back up with two shot glasses in one hand and a bottle filled with clear amber liquid in the other. She poured a generous amount in both glasses and pushed one towards Chloe with a warm smile. “Cheers!.” 

Chloe frowned, reaching for her glass and glancing up at the woman. She was still smiling, one eyebrow raised and her own glass in hand. 

_ Fuck it,  _ Chloe decided, huffing a breath and knocking back her shot. It was tequila, she realized as the liquid burned a path through her. A good one at that, if her crappy taste was anything to go by. 

The woman laughed again, downing her own shot like it was water. Once she was done, she  snatched Chloe’s glass from her hand, ignoring her indignant yelp, and refilled both, downing her second shot and pushing the other glass back towards Chloe once she was done. 

“Damon told me about the train.” The woman said at last, gesturing towards Chloe’s glass. Taking the hint, Chloe knocked that one back as well. The burn wasn’t so bad this time. It gave Chloe the chance to appreciate the smooth taste of the drink. “I’m not gonna lie, pup, I thought you were a goner.”  

Before she knew it, Chloe had puffed out her chest and was grinning wildly. The woman’s tone was nothing like Thunder’s and Chloe was glad for it. This woman sounded actually proud. “Takes a lot more than that to kill me.” 

The woman’s eyes traveled down Chloe’s body, grinning. “I bet it does.” 

Before Chloe could blush too badly there was a loud voice from the other side of the bar asking for a beer. The omega flashed another smile towards Chloe, filling her glass to the top one last time before hiding the bottle behind the bar once more and hurrying away with a wink, leaving Chloe alone with her drink and the beginnings of a pleasant buzz.

Minutes went by as Chloe sipped her shot. The mood inside the Mill felt more charged by the second; the people shifting restlessly as the band on stage finished up their set and the place continued to fill up steadily. 

The space was big—and hardly filled to bursting—but there were enough people inside that Chloe was sure a ton of them must have driven down from nearby towns. Maybe a few of them even came from Seattle. 

Chloe grimaced, downing the rest of her shot in one gulp as her mind jumped straight to Max without her permission. Tonight was not the night to dwell on the mousy girl that had left her behind years ago.

( _ But, God, she could picture her there, standing in the middle of the Mill, looking lost and a little awkward in the middle of Mill.  _

_ Chloe couldn’t quite decide on what Max would look like now—if she had changed as much as Chloe had since the last time they saw each other, or if she was still the same quiet girl that Chloe remembered so fondly...) _

A loud cheer from the crowd snapped Chloe out of her fantasy and she turned around just in time to see the last of Firewalk’s members jump into stage to roaring applause. 

Chloe jumped off her bar stool, heart beating so fast that she could hear it. On the stage, the vocalist thanked the people for being there and then gestured towards his band mates, who launched into the fast notes of their first song for the night and just like that they were off.

With a giddy smile, Chloe pushed all her money—about eight bucks, max—into the bar before rushing away; leaving behind the memories of long lost friends in favor of the intoxicating sound of music leading her forward. 

The area around the stage had closed up but Chloe saw some people starting to dance near the stage—if you could even call dancing the wild jumps, air guitars and headbanging that everyone was doing. The Mill wasn’t so packed that pushing her way to the stage would be impossible but Chloe passed them by quickly. 

She had a better idea.

Rushing to the back, Chloe made her way to the bottom of an almost hidden set of stairs. There, Frank Bowers—Damon’s right hand man and the closest thing Chloe had to a friend in Damon’s pack—was lounging on a sofa that had been set up right next to the stairs. Chloe waved at him. 

“Frank!” Chloe shouted, struggling to be heard over the music. “Hey, Frank!” 

The Alpha turned towards her, raising his beer in greeting when he saw her. When Chloe reached his couch, he leaned towards her and said: “You’re fucking crazy, pup! Thought I was going to have to scrap your carcass off the side of a goddam tree!” 

Chloe laughed, bumping her fist against his shoulder. “I know what I’m doing, man.”  Frank shook his head wildly, but he didn’t made any further comment, which Chloe appreciated. 

“Think I can get up there?” She asked him, pointing to the stairs.

Frank looked up at the remains of what used to be the second floor of the Mill and back towards Chloe. “If the train didn’t do you in, I doubt the Mill is going to be the thing that kills you.”

Chloe laughed. “Damn right!” 

Turning towards the stairs, Chloe waved Frank goodbye and made her way upstairs, stepping over a rope that had been set up to block the way and running up the rundown steps until she reached the top. 

The second floor was much more run down than the rest of the Mill and a lot darker, but small rays of neon lights filtered through the spaces between panels that made up the floor and they flashed brightly directly in front of Chloe, coming from the place where part the floor had caved in years ago, leaving behind a sort of balcony from where the stage and part of the crowd were clearly visible. 

Chloe wasted no time and stepped right to the edge, looking down to the stage where Firewalks was busy rocking away. 

“Fuck yeah!” Chloe roared, her voice lost on the music blasting from the stage. “I made it!”

Below, the drummer launched into a rapid solo to cheers from the crowd and Chloe shouted right along with them, banging her head to the rhythm and miming the hits to the drums that she knew by heart, losing herself to the music.

In that moment, there were no Max or Dad leaving Chloe behind. No David or Blackwell asking things from Chloe that she wasn’t sure how to give and no Mom to disappoint by being who she was. 

In that moment, there was only  _ music _ . Only guitars and drum, guiding along the lead singer as he enchanted the crowd and created something that felt damn near close to magic. 

It was  _ everything _ Chloe had hoped for and more. 

She wanted it to last forever. 

“Watcha doing, punk?” 

A heavy hand landed on Chloe’s shoulder, turning her around with a shove that she was in no way prepared to receive, throwing off her balance. 

For a wild instant, Chloe was sure that she was going to plummet down into the crowd. Fear gripped her and Chloe launched away from the edge, stumbling into the body standing there. 

“The fuck!” Another shove, this time away further away from the edge until Chloe’s back slammed against one of the nearby support beams. The flare of pain was sharp and sudden, drawing a yelp from Chloe’s mouth. “How fucking drunk are you, punk?” 

Staring at the stage lights had wrecked Chloe’s night vision, so it was hard to make out the details of  the man standing in front of her, but the task was made easier when he grabbed her by the front of the shirt and pulled her closer to him. 

He was an Alpha. That’s the first thing that registered in Chloe’s brain along with his mop of dark hair and the white scar running down the side of his face. Older than her, probably in his thirties. He was also plastered, if the smell of alcohol on his breath was anything to go by and Chloe was sure she had seen him hanging around Damon place recently.

That was all that Chloe needed to to know to be sure that this wasn’t going to end well. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, man!” Chloe tried, doing her best to keep her scent calm and even. The last thing she needed was to goad this fucker into a dominance display. “But I do know that Damon is going to kick your ass if he sees you putting your hands on me.” 

The man laughed. It was an ugly sound that Chloe was glad she could barely hear over the music. “Pretty sure D-man doesn’t care one way or another, punk. I would know, I was just talking to him when we saw you saunter up to the bar. Feel like a real alpha after that stunt with the train, do ya? Talking to Damon’s girl like that?” 

To her right, the band finished one song and kicked into another one. Chloe recognized it instantly. It was one of her favorites.

_ Fuck. _

Knowing by experience that protesting wouldn’t do her any good, Chloe closed her eyes and went slack on the man’s grip, already mourning the concert she was going to miss. 

Damon’s cronies had never hurt her too badly, but all of them seemed to get a thrill out of messing with her. So long as she didn’t push back, this would be over before she knew it, with nothing more than a few bruises to show for it. 

_ He might even let me stick around to watch the rest of the concert, _ Chloe thought hopefully.

“I still don’t know what you see in this fuckers,” the man—his name was Mark, maybe? Something like that—said, shaking Chloe by the collar and gesturing towards the stage. “Sounds like a load of bullshit to me.” 

Maybe it was the wild joy from surviving the train ride, the alcohol in her veins or the fact that her favorite band was playing right beside her, but Chloe’s eyes snapped open and she was growling before she knew it. “The only bullshit I hear is the one coming out of your mouth.”

The music was still as loud as ever, but to Chloe it felt like everything went silent as maybe-Mark turned towards her, his expression going from amused to deadly serious in the blink of an eye. “What the fuck did you just said?” 

Chloe wasn’t shaking, but it was a close thing. This was going to end horribly, no two ways about that. And maybe that’s why she found the courage to smirk up at the Alpha.  _ In for a penny… _

“I said you’re full of shit, ”

Mark’s face contorted with fury and that was enough to let Chloe know that a punch was coming. Turning her head to the side, Chloe closed her eyes and braced herself. 

“Hey, dickhead!”

Chloe’s eyes snapped open, turning incredulously towards the stairs where the voice had come from.

There was a girl standing there, teeth bared and glaring at Mark. It was hard to make out details in the low light, but there was something about the girl’s face—blonde hair and harsh makeup, was about as much as Chloe could see—or clothing—a black army jacket over a band t-shirt, with a bright blue feather hanging from her left ear as an earring—that felt instantly familiar to Chloe.

_ What the fuck... _

The grip on Chloe’s collar slackened and Chloe turned towards Mark quickly. 

He was staring at the girl, nostrils flared and jaw slack, with his arm still wound up and ready to punch Chloe down frozen in place. It seemed like he was having a hard time figuring out what was happening through his drunken haze. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Mark snarled, eyes fixed on the new arrival. 

Chloe saw the girl square up her shoulders and take a step forward. “If you don’t get your hands off her, you’re going to find out.” 

_ Fuck,  _ Chloe thought, turning back to watch Mark with a grin,  _ girl’s got a pair.  _

Mark didn’t seemed to share Chloe’s admiration. In an instant, the air was filled with the sour smell of the man’s dominance, making Chloe gag. “I’m gonna make you wish you hadn’t opened your mouth, little girl.” 

He meant it, Chloe knew. If not him, then certainly Damon would, once he found out about this. They would find this girl and make her pay for defying them, all because she had tried to help Chloe out of a mess she had gotten herself into. 

Chloe turned her eyes towards the girl. She seemed a bit shorter than Chloe and just as thin, but there she was nevertheless, with her teeth bared and advancing on a man much bigger than herself. 

She was brave, not doubt about that, but being brave was gonna get her killed if she kept going.

_ Unless I do something worse.  _ Chloe thought quickly.  _ Then I’m the only thing Mark will remember.  _

By now, Mark’s grip on her shirt was almost limp as he focused all his attention on the girl. That was good. Smiling a toothy grin, Chloe took a deep breath and shouted:

“Hey, Mark!?” 

The man turned towards her and Chloe smiled—seemed like she had gotten the name right—and then slammed her knee right into his balls without breaking eye contact.

The grip on her shirt fell away entirely and for a moment it was almost funny, how Mark crumbled to his knees in what felt like slow motion, but Chloe was too busy turning tail and running to get a good laugh at his expense.

The girl was still standing at the top of the stairs when Chloe got there. Without thinking, Chloe took her hand and pulled her along, shouting a hurried: “Come on!” before dashing down the stairs as fast as she dared. 

Once on the main floor, Chloe dropped the girl’s hand and turned towards Frank’s couch, shouting his name. She almost expected the music to drown her out, but Frank turned his head towards Chloe immediately. He must have seen something on her face, because he was standing up in an instant, looking around wildly. 

The girl’s hand grabbed Chloe’s again and began pulling her towards the stage. Chloe resisted long enough to point upstairs and see Frank take off towards the second floor before giving in, letting herself be lead right up to the stage, where the music was deafening and the neon lights flashed bright.

There, the girl stopped suddenly and Chloe almost ran into her. Steadying herself, Chloe pulled back a little. She had been hoping to thank the girl for her help, but the words died on Chloe’s throat once she got a good look at her face.

Of course she knew this girl.  _ Everybody  _ in Arcadia Bay did.

“Rachel Amber?” Chloe shouted, eyes wide open.  

Even with the music, Rachel turned towards her, nodding.

“Chloe Price!” Rachel shouted back. They were close enough that the words carried clearly enough. Close enough that Rachel’s Omega scent carried over to her nose and Chloe’s jaw fell open.

Rachel Amber, golden girl in Blackwell and daughter of their district’s D.A was standing in front of her, grinning towards her in the middle of a rock concert, nodding along to the rhythm of the music as Firewalk rocked on the stage in front of them.

_ And she knows my name. _

Chloe was still trying to process that last part when Rachel grabbed her by the hand and pulled her forward again, shouting a quick “Dance with me!” as she set up an easy rhythm, moving her whole body with the song.

Chloe turned her head towards the stairs. She couldn’t see anything from here, but there was a part of Chloe that wanted nothing more than to run and hide. That had been the biggest act of defiance she had ever shown towards someone of Damon’s pack. Ever. And Chloe’s previous rebellions had taught her clearly that Damon was not the sort of man that took insults to his friends lightly. 

Whatever he did next, it wouldn’t be good.

_ On the other hand _ —Chloe thought, turning back towards Rachel, who was still rocking along to the music— _ this is the band I jumped out of a train to see. _

Smiling, Chloe closed her eyes and stopped thinking, letting the music take her away once more. 

Let tomorrow take care of itself. 

[A note, drunkenly scribbled on a torn piece of paper. It has a brown stain on the upper right corner and a caricature of Mark in the middle, holding his hands like claws and baring his teeth.]

_ Hey Maaax, guess what? _

_ Today I snuck out of my house and went a rock concert. I hitched a ride on a train and jumped off of said train without breaking a single bone. I got into a fight in the middle of an abandoned Mill, got drunk without having to pay for a single drink and danced with the most popular omega in Blackwell.  _

_ It was the best night of my life. But enough about me, how was  _ your _ night?  _

_ … _

_ That’s what I thought.  _

  
_ Chloe- _ **_who needs you anymore_ ** _ -Price _


	2. Catching Fire

“—and bakey!”

Chloe's eyes fluttered open.

It was a mistake. Sunlight immediately stabbed at her eyes and Chloe groaned, burrowing deeper into the pillow she was lying on.

She felt awful.

_ What the hell happened last night? _

Consciousness returned faster after that. She was laying face down on her bed and that was pretty much the only good thing about her current situation. 

Chloe was still fully dressed—shoes and all, she realized, groaning softly—her stomach was in full revolt, making her feel dizzy and nauseous, her throat felt sore and raspy and there was a pounding pain on her temples that just wouldn’t quit. 

“I should not be awake,” Chloe mumbled to herself, hugging her pillow closer and closing her eyes, willing herself back to sleep.

………….

………….

“It’s time to go to go to school, Chloe!” The words—accompanied by a loud knock on her door—startled Chloe awake again. “Just because you snuck in the house at God knows what hour, it don’t mean you get to skip school!”

All the aches came back in full force as soon as she woke up and Chloe groaned. She wasn’t exactly sure when—or how, for that matter—she had gotten home, but she felt awful enough to bet that she couldn’t have slept for more than a handful of hours.

_ I shouldn’t be awake. _

Swallowing a curse, Chloe tried to roll over face up, but was stopped by a sharp sting of pain as soon as she tried. It felt like her upper back was on fire, with the skin tight and hot like a really bad sunburn, accompanied with the worst muscle pain Chloe had ever felt that extended all the way down her spine. 

Gritting her teeth, Chloe curled in on herself and wished with every fiber of her being that she could just go back to sleep. 

There was another knock on at the door.

“I’m up, mom!” Chloe croaked out. Her voice came out rough and scratchy, so Chloe cleared her throat and tried again. “I’m up!” 

It was a little better, but it still sounded hoarse. It seemed like her voice was yet another victim of last night’s concert. 

“We’re gonna have a talk about your behavior when you come back from school. Right now, you just get ready. There’s breakfast on the table, eggs and bacon, and they’re gonna fix you right up.” 

The mental image of greasy dinner food was enough for Chloe to ignore her pains and aches long enough to shuffle into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. Once there, Chloe fished out her phone from her pocket, begging her stomach to settle as she tried to turn on her phone and cursing when nothing happened. It was out of power.

“I’ll be out in a minute,” Chloe called out, reaching out to connect her phone. “I’m just gonna take a quick shower first.” 

There was no immediate answer and Chloe figured her mom had walked away until there was a nervous rap at the door. “That’s okay honey, just hurry. David’s home and he’s going to drive you to school today.”

Chloe froze. 

All thoughts of breakfast leaved her mind once she realized she would have to sit down to eat next to David—or Sgt Douchebag, as Chloe preferred to call him. She was already miserable enough this morning without him there to make everything worse. 

Gathering her strength, Chloe pushed herself to her feet and wandered over towards the dresser, swallowing a wave of nausea as she went and rummaging around inside for a clean set of clothes for the day. 

Without warning, the pain on her head increased and Chloe groaned, lowering her head towards the dresser.

_ Why did I drank so much last night?  _ Chloe asked herself, closing her eyes against the pounding headache. Unbidden, an image of Rachel Amber’s smiling face flashed through her mind and Chloe snorted.  _ Right, that’s why. _

///////

_ “They’re amazing!” Rachel shouted, pulling Chloe forwards towards a more secluded corner of the Mill. Firewalk had just left to take a break before the second half of their set and most of the crowd had dispersed, gathering around the bar and the couches to rest up. “So much better than I imagined.”  _

_ “Yeah!” Chloe said, pulling up the hood of her hoodie to try and cover her face. Her phone had been blowing up with messages all night and Chloe had ignored all of them, knowing already that all of them had to be from either Damon looking for her, or Frank warning her to stay away. “I’m glad I got to see them.”  _

_ Rachel nodded, turning towards the bar. “God, I wish I had brought a better fake I.D. The guy at the front did me a favor by letting me inside already and I don’t want to press my luck at the bar, but it really feels like a night for a drink.” _

_ “I know the bartender,” Chloe said immediately, surprising even herself. “I can get us a drink, no sweat.”  _

_ Which was a big, fat lie. The odds of Damon catching Chloe need the bar where stupidly high, but the look that Rachel gave Chloe—like Chloe was impressive or something—was enough to get Chloe to push off the wall and make her way to the bar with a quick: “Wait here, I’ll be back in a second.”  _

_ Getting to the bar was awful. Chloe saw Damon in every person of similar build and almost had a damn heart attack when she  _ actually  _ saw him, slumped in one of the bar stools with Frank sitting next to him pouring him another drink from a nearby bottle.  _

_ Knowing where he was, however, gave Chloe the courage to push her way to the other side of the bar, keeping low as she waved to the bartender.  _

_ “I figured you would have run away already, stud.” The woman said in way of greeting once she got close to Chloe. “Damon is on a warpath and your friend Frank is only going to be able to keep him distracted for so long.”  _

_ It was hard to pull off bold when you were making yourself small to avoid being seen by someone, but Chloe gave it her best shot anyway, grinning as she said: “I don’t run away. It’s not my style.”  _

_ “I’m beginning to see that, stud.” The woman said, laughing. “What do you need?”  _

///////

And that’s how Chloe had ended up with a half full bottle of tequila for them to share.

Things had gotten blurry not long after that; Chloe wasn’t even sure how she had managed to get home in the first place. 

“Weed would have never done this to me,” Chloe groaned, lifting her head from the dresser and walking towards the door, doing her best to ignore all her pains and aches and focus on the task at hand.

First on the list: take a shower. If she was going to end up seeing Damon today, there was no reason to make it worse for herself and go see him without taking a shower first. He hated that.

Opening the door a crack, Chloe stuck her head out and sniffed the air tentatively. 

Even without her mom’s warning, Chloe would have known that Sgt. Douche was in the house based on his stench alone. His smell permeated every corner of the house—barring Chloe’s room, thank fuck—like it always did when he visited. No amount of Chloe’s complaints had convinced her mom that he did that on purpose and not because: “ _ He just has a strong scent, honey _ ” or whatever other bullshit excuse her mom felt like making for him that day. 

“Asshole,” Chloe muttered. If Alpha’s couldn’t keep their scent in check, Damon would have killed Chloe ages ago. He hated how she smelled.

In any case, his scent might be everywhere, but it wasn’t strong enough to indicate that he was nearby, so Chloe made a dash for the bathroom and locked herself inside. 

Once there, the first thing Chloe did was dive for the medicine cabinet and find the fast acting Advils, downing a couple in hopes of getting rid of at least one of her aches before getting to Blackwell.

With that taken cared of and sweet relief on the way, Chloe’s next challenge came in the form of taking of her shirt. The first attempt revealed that lifting up her arms above chest level was enough to make her back feel like it was on fire, so Chloe had to improvise and sort of tug the shirt from the shoulders until she managed to pass the back over her head without actually moving too much. 

Unhooking her bra was a little easier and, now naked from the waist up, Chloe turned her back towards the mirror, hissing as soon as she caught sight of it.  

It was the biggest bruise she had ever gotten, by far. 

It began on her right shoulder like a bunch of angry red scratches that slowly turned into a solid purple bruise as it traveled down her back, expanding as it went until it covered her entire back and ending somewhere around where the last of Chloe’s ribs.

“No wonder it fucking hurts,” Chloe mumbled, poking a few places of the bruise and wincing accordingly. 

Once she was satisfied, Chloe took off the rest of her clothes and jumped into the shower, turning on the water and moaning in relief as the warm water landed on her body and soothed the pain on her back. 

It was heavenly. 

Closing her eyes, Chloe tried to recall more stuff about the night before. 

Some things came to her quickly, like Rachel jumping on her back and taking a selfie of them both and Chloe being drunk enough that it had barely even hurt, shouting her lungs out as Firewalk played their last song of the night and...

///////

_ “Are you sure you don’t want a ride?” Rachel’s voice was surprisingly clear despite the amount of tequila they had both drank. “It wouldn’t be a problem.”  _

_ The girl standing behind Rachel nodded awkwardly but it was clear that taking Chloe home was the last thing she wanted. She looked uncomfortable enough as it was, standing in the middle of the forest next to an abandoned building, without adding giving a ride to the school troublemaker to the list.  _

_ “Nah, don’t worry about it,” Chloe drawled, putting on a confident smile. “I already have a ride.” _

_ “If you’re sure..:” _

///////

Chloe frowned, pausing in the middle of washing her hair. 

If she had rejected Rachel’s offer of a ride, then how on earth has she made it back home? 

“Oh, fuck,” Chloe groaned, the memory coming back to her in a flash. “Frank.” 

///////

_ Chloe woke up with a start when something hit her on the side.  _

_ It was dark out, and Chloe looked around wildly until her eyes landed on Frank, who was standing beside her with his arms crossed and a deep frown on his face.  _

_ “What’s your problem, dude?” Chloe asked. The words came out all slurred together and Chloe frowned. “I was sleeping.”  _

_ “You tell me, Chloe. You’re the one sleeping against my van.”  _

_ She was? Chloe reached back and felt the tire of a car against her back. Huh, she really was, who knew?  _

_ Turning back to Frank, Chloe tried to share this new information with him but was sidetracked when she realized she had to look way up to meet Frank’s eyes. “When did you get so tall, man?”  _

_ There was a sigh and the next thing Chloe knew, she was being lifted by the arms until she was standing and Frank was once again at eye level.  _

_ Swaying on her feet, Chloe smiled. “Hey, man, there you are!”  _

_ “Just get in the van, Chloe.”  _

///////

Chloe cringed. 

Right, Drunk Chloe had thought it would be a good idea to curl up next to Frank’s van and ask him for a ride home—risk of running into Damon be damned—only to fall asleep at some point while waiting. 

Good thing that Damon hadn’t been around and that Frank had taken pity on her drunk ass or she would have probably woke up alone in the middle of the forest.

Finishing up her shower, Chloe sighed. That only left how she had managed to get inside the house without waking up her mom (or David, if he had spend the night there and fuck, Chloe did not want to think about that) while blind drunk, but no amount of thinking gave her even the faintest idea about that part. 

The warm water had done wonders for her back, so Chloe was feeling a lot better when she got out of the shower and almost ready to face the rest of the day. 

_ But not David,  _ Chloe decided while getting dressed.  _ Not right now. _

Sneaking back into her room, Chloe found her backpack and stuffed inside everything she would need for the day—a couple of notebooks and pens, along with her trusty marker and a fresh hoodie—and strapped her skateboard to the front. 

Then, she grabbed her phone and keys and peered out the window. 

David’s car was visible in the driveway, but the man himself was nowhere the be seen and Chloe smiled. 

Tossing her backpack out the window, Chloe climbed outside, following the often traveled route down until she was standing on the sidewalk and taking off at a run towards the end of the street, where she stopped long enough to unstrap her skateboard from her bag and turn her phone back on. 

A bunch of messages started pinging immediately.

A few were from her mom, asking when she would be home and warning her about the consequences of missing her curfew (that Chloe had totally missed by, like, six hours.) 

To her, Chloe wrote a quick message letting her know that she was already on her way to Blackwell and not to worry, before checking the almost forty messages that Frank had left on her phone the night before. 

Most were just him freaking out, telling her how dead she was going to be when Damon caught her and letting her know how big of a pain in the ass she was. 

“Nothing I didn’t know already,” Chloe mumbled, thumbing through the messages until she reached the final two.

Those were both from this morning, one letting her know that Damon would be calling her later and the other warning Chloe that the Alpha she had kicked in the balls was one of Damon’s business partner. 

_ Fuck. _

With her heart beating fast in chest, Chloe stuffed the phone in her pocket and got on her skateboard, kicking off towards the school. 

There was nothing she could do about Damon now and she was late enough to Blackwell as it was—it would be a miracle if she made it there before lunch hour started—so she picked up the pace and tried to put everything regarding Damon and his pack out of her mind.

With the Advil finally kicking in, the ride to school was peaceful. 

The sun and fresh air did wonders for Chloe’s energy levels and the constant motion of the ride warmed up the muscles of her back and made the sting of the bruise a lot more bearable than when she had just woken up. 

Before she knew it, Blackwell’s campus came into view, full of students milling outside and talking animatedly among themselves. 

Chloe stopped in front of the school and kicked up her board with a sigh. She had missed the morning classes all together. 

Dejected, Chloe wandered towards the entrance slowly, wondering if she could talk someone into buying her something to eat—maybe Justin? He was a fellow skater and she had hooked him up with free weed a couple of times—or if it would be better to face Damon on an empty stomach so the nerves wouldn’t get the better of her.

So lost on her thoughts, Chloe was startled when someone called her name from behind her.

“Chloe! Over here!” 

Turning towards the sound, Chloe saw Rachel standing next to a nearby fountain, waving at Chloe with a small smile on her face and, standing next to her with a frown and crossed arms, Victoria Chase, looking at Chloe like she was the biggest annoyance in this world.

“Hey, Rach,” Chloe said, waving back weakly. “How’s it going?” 

“Kari Price,” Victoria interrupted, taking a few steps forward until she was standing between Rachel and Chloe. “What a surprise, we were just talking about that little concert you guys went to last night.” 

Chloe rolled her eyes. “You just heard Rachel call me Chloe, dude.” 

Victoria laughed and Chloe gritted her teeth. She had always hated Victoria’s fake little laugh. “You’re so funny, Kari, that’s what I like about you.” 

Sighing, Chloe turned towards Rachel. 

The Omega was shooting daggers at Victoria’s back and Chloe smiled. At least she wasn’t the only one annoyed with Victoria’s shit. Raising her voice, Chloe asked, “How are you feeling, Rachel? You got home okay?” 

“Yes,” Rachel said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Dana got me home safe.” 

Chloe frowned. Rachel’s voice was a lot more subdued than the night before and Chloe wasn’t sure if that was because of her, Victoria, or something else altogether.

Before Chloe could figure out what else to say, Victoria huffed a breath and grabbed Chloe by the shoulder, flashing a bit of fang and stepping further between Chloe and Rachel. 

“Look, Kari, you know I’m always happy to tutor failing students,” Chloe pulled away, wrinkling her nose as Victoria backed her words with a small puff of pheromones,” but Rachel and I are having a private conversation right now, so how about you go get us a couple of salads from the cafeteria and come back later?”

Victoria pulled out a twenty from her purse and waved it in front of Chloe tauntingly. 

The air was still mostly clear of pheromones and Chloe thanked the heavens that Blackwell’s Alphas were all far too polite to really go all out in their little dominance displays; even the ones that fancied themselves pack leaders like Victoria here. 

The smell of other Alpha’s pheromones had always made Chloe a bit nauseous and with the hangover she was still nursing, the smell of a true attempt at dominance might have been enough to made Chloe barf right then and there. 

“I’m really not in the mood for your bullshit, Vicky,” Chloe said, shrugging off the hand on her shoulder. “You can either get your own damn food or starve, I don’t really care either way.” 

Behind Victoria’s back, Rachel chuckled low on her throat and Chloe had to avert her eyes to the sky, embarrassed for reason she couldn’t name. 

Rachel had a really pretty laugh.

Victoria didn’t seemed to appreciate the sound. Chloe wrinkled her nose as the air flooded with pheromones. 

The smell was a tad stronger this time—and a lot more abundant—but still far away from an all out effort to dominate. 

“I said,” Victoria growled, “get me some lunch, Price”

Huffing, Chloe took the money. Immediately the air felt clearer and Victoria gave a triumphant smile, turning back towards Rachel who was staring intently at Chloe. It was a peculiar look, but Chloe had no idea what was going through Rachel’s head. 

“Hey, Rach?” Chloe tried.

Victoria turned back towards Chloe with a snarl but Chloe kept her eyes fixed on Rachel, whose lips had quirked upwards on a smile. “Yeah?” 

“Wanna go get some lunch? I just found a twenty sticking out of a trash can.” Rachel burst out laughing and Chloe grinned, even as Victoria let out a loud screech of indignation. “It smelled really bad, but I braved the scent and got the money anyway.” 

There was another snarl and suddenly Victoria was standing right in Chloe’s face, growling. 

Baring her teeth right back, Chloe pulled herself to her full height—just about taller than Victoria—and squared her shoulders, daring her to try something.

She was done playing the submissive little Alpha. If Victoria really wanted to make Chloe submit, then she was going to have to stop playing polite and really try and make her. 

A tense moment passed.

Then, just as suddenly as it started, Victoria huffed out a breath and turned to other way, muttering something about having better things to do with her time as she walked away towards the dorm rooms. 

Smiling, Chloe let herself relax. 

“So,” Rachel’s voice came from behind her and Chloe jumped when Rachel’s hand landed on her shoulder. “Where are you taking me?” 

That’s when Chloe remembered that she had kinda asked Rachel out to eat. 

“I… What are you in the mood for?” Chloe asked, turning towards Rachel.

Rachel tapped her finger against her chin in a show of careful thinking. “Something greasy. I have a wicked hangover.” 

Chloe’s stomach growled loudly and she looked away, scratching the back of her neck. Right, she had missed breakfast. 

“Come on,” Chloe said, gesturing towards the street. “I know a place.” 

They walked in silence for a while, with Chloe trying to think something to say and coming up blank. It was a lot harder to talk to this version of Rachel—with her clean and clearly expensive clothes—than it had been to talk to the punk girl that had saved her ass the night before. 

“Thanks for the rescue back there,” Rachel said eventually, saving Chloe from having to figure out what to say. “Victoria was grilling me about last night and I couldn’t figure out how to shake her.”

Chloe shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal. Victoria is all bark and no bite.” 

“What do you mean?” Rachel asked, turning fully towards Chloe.

Watching Rachel out of the corner of her eye, Chloe sighed. “All the alphas in Blackwell are always playing at dominance, but it’s just that, playing. If she had been serious...” Chloe scoffed. “Well, I would be getting you a salad right about now.” 

Rachel scoffed. “I’m pretty sure she was giving it her best shot, Chloe.”

Chloe thought about Damon and David both and shuddered. “Not she wasn’t. Trust me, I know what an alpha that is really trying looks like.” 

Rachel didn’t say anything else, so Chloe remained quiet as well, leading Rachel to the back of Blackwell’s campus until she spotted a little food cart parked on the middle of the street.   

There was no one else around at this hour. Blackwell kids rarely strayed from their cafeteria and the blue collar workers hadn’t left their jobs yet, so Chloe was able to walk right up to the counter and order a pair of their biggest burgers without having to wait.

Turning back towards Rachel, Chloe saw her standing a few feet back, watching Chloe with a furrowed brow.  

Not sure what to say—or do, for that matter—Chloe stayed near the food cart until the food came, then she thanked the old lady that manned the truck and walked back toward Rachel, who had found a seat in a nearby bench, still eyeing Chloe intently.

“Is this okay?” Chloe asked, offering Rachel one of the burgers.

Rachel took it with a smile. “And if it wasn’t?” 

“Then I eat them both and get you something else,” Chloe said with a grin. 

Rachel snorted and took a bite from the burger

“It’s so good!” The words came out almost like a moan and Chloe turned towards her own food, watching it like it was the most interesting thing in the world. 

“Yeah, I love them.” 

Rachel hummed, taking another bite of her food. “How are you feeling? My head was killing me when I woke up and I don’t think I drank as much as you.” 

“Yeah, it felt like there was a hammer against my temple.” Chloe answered, devouring half her burger in a couple of huge bites. “Best night of my life, though.” 

Rachel nodded her agreement. “How did you find out about the concert? I would have missed it if I hadn’t happened to overhear a couple talking about it near the campus. They were kind enough to tell me all about it when I asked.” 

“I know the guy that owns the Mill,” Chloe said, smiling wildly when Rachel shot her an incredulous look.

“No way!” 

“Yeah, I run with his pack a lot.” 

Rachel’s eyes were all but sparkling when she looked at Chloe. “You’re full of surprises, Chloe Price.” 

This time, there was nothing Chloe could do to stop the flush that came to her face. 

Time flew as they continued to chat and by the time lunch hour was over, Chloe was feeling more happy and relaxed than she had in years.

Smiling, Chloe offered up her hand to Rachel to help her stand. “Come on, Wells is going to be in my case enough as it is without missing the rest of the day.”

Rachel took her hand with a smile and they made their way back to Blackwell. 

They were almost back to the main entrance when Chloe’s phone pinged with a message and, without thinking, Chloe reached into her pocket to check.

Her hands almost shook when she saw Damon’s name appear on her screen along with an audio message.

Everything after that was a blur. Chloe had waved Rachel off when the omega had asked what was wrong, halfheartedly thanking her for joining her for the meal and not bothering to say goodbye before she ran to the nearest bathroom and locked herself inside.

It took a long moment of hiding in one of the stalls, but eventually Chloe found the courage to press play.

“Hey there, runt.” Damon’s voice echoed through the bathroom, sending a shiver down Chloe’s spine. “See me outside your school once classes are over for the day and hey, do yourself a favor and don’t keep me waiting. You know how much I hate that.” 


	3. Damon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thing go from bad to worse as Chloe meets up with Damon.

_ “Miss Price?”  _

…. 

_ “Miss Price?”  _

Chloe shifted in her seat, groaning softly.

“Miss Price!” 

A loud, booming sound startled Chloe into waking. Jerking in place, Chloe felt her knee bump into something hard and heard a muffled round of laughter before she could even open her eyes and to try and orient herself.

Opening her eyes, Chloe found herself sitting at her desk in her class, with her English teacher—a snobby little Beta that always managed to rub Chloe the wrong way—glaring down at her with his arms crossed. 

“Yes?” Chloe asked, clearing her throat when her voice came out rough with sleep.

“So nice of you to join us, Miss Price.” The teacher said, picking up a thick book from Chloe’s desk. Chloe glared at it. That must have been what woke her up; the sound of the book slamming into her desk.

_ Asshole. _

“Glad to be here,” Chloe muttered, crossing her arms.

She found it hard enough to engage with Blackwell’s classes on a good day and today was as far from one as Chloe could imagine. Her mind was firmly stuck on Damon’s call and on whatever punishment he would feel was appropriate for kicking his friend on the balls. 

“It’s your turn to read, Miss Price.” The teacher said, smiling like he always did when Chloe messed something up, not that anyone had believed her when she told them as much. “I trust that you were paying attention.” 

There was another round of muffled laughter and Chloe grimaced, reaching down into her backpack to pick up the book they were supposed to be analyzing. Hers was a beat up copy she had picked up from the library, but the words at the front were still clearly legible. 

_ The Tempest. _

Flipping it open, Chloe browsed the pages halfheartedly for a minute before giving up. She hadn’t the faintest idea of where they had left off.

Turning towards the teacher, Chloe sighed. “I don’t know where we left off.” 

“What was that?” The teacher asked, still smiling widely. Chloe gritted her teeth and looked down.

_ Asshole. Asshole. Asshole. _

“I said I don’t know where to begin.” Chloe said again, loud enough to be considered a shout. “I was asleep.”

The teacher chuckled. “Ariel’s first line, page 10, if you will.” 

_ Asshole _ , Chloe thought again, ignoring the students laughing at her behind their hands and going to the page in question.

“All hail, great master, grave sir...hail. I come to answer th-thy best pleasure.” Chloe read, struggling with the intonation of the words. “Bet—” 

“You should know by now it’s be it, not bet, Miss Price.”

“My bad,” Chloe mumbled. “Be’t to fly, to swim, to dive into a fire, to ride on the… the—” Chloe squinted at the words, as if that would help her figure out how to pronounce them correctly. “On the curl’d clouds, to thy strong bidding task, Ariel and all his quality?” 

The teacher snorted quietly and Chloe closed her eyes. That sound was all that she need to know she had managed to mess up the dialogue. Once upon a time, Chloe would have been furious about the teacher’s clear enjoyment of her failure, but nowadays she just prayed that he wouldn’t ask her what on Earth some of those words had meant.

“That’s enough, Miss Price, thank you.” The teacher said, turning away and pointing towards a girl near the front of the class. “Miss Baker, if you could continue.” 

The girl began to read immediately—her words loud and steady, a stark contrast to Chloe’s stilted reading—and the teacher walked towards her, not sparing Chloe a second glance.

_ Good, _ Chloe thought, crossing her arms and sinking back into her seat.  _ Fuck you too _ .

Glancing to classroom’s clock, Chloe groaned. 

40 more minutes to go. 

After hearing Damon’s message, Chloe hadn’t been able to stop think about what punishment awaited her. With hours to dwell on it, she had pictured everything from a good ol’ ass kicking to being tied up to a tree and left to rot. After she had caught herself entertaining the idea of Damon somehow getting hold of a wasp’s nest to toss at her head, Chloe had decided it was time to give her imagination a rest and tried to keep her mind blank. 

That’s probably why she had ended up falling asleep in the first place.

Sighing, Chloe checked the clock again. 

38 minutes to go. 

Chloe groaned. As much as she feared what awaited her, Chloe wished fervently that she could just run out of the classroom and find Damon already—tell him to get his punishment over and done with so they could go back to being pack-mates—but she knew that rushing Damon would only end up pissing him off even more and making her punishment worst. 

So, Chloe stayed in class. And suffered.

The rest of the hour dragged on slowly and Chloe felt every minute like it was an eternity. She listened bored out of her mind as the teacher droned on and on about the hidden depths and meanings of The Tempest. It was a relief when—about five minutes before the class was officially over—the teacher closed his book and turned to address the class. 

“As you know, our school’s drama club is going to present an abridged version of The Tempest next week. I expect all of you to be there to support your classmates. I’ll be giving out extra points to anyone that brings a ticket of the play to class the next day.” 

Chloe shoved her book back into her backpack and put on her hoodie, bouncing her leg impatiently in place once she was done. The teacher answered some last minute questions and then finally dismissed the class. 

As soon as he did, Chloe dashed for the door, ignoring the grumbled protests from her nearby classmates when she ran past them. Running down Blackwell's hallways, it wasn’t long until Chloe was back on the street, panting and looking around for any sign of Damon. 

She couldn’t see him or his car anywhere, but Chloe’s eyes immediately landed on a spindly beta with beady eyes that was watching her from the other side of the street with a lazy grin.

“Okay,” Chloe whispered, taking a deep breath and making her way towards the Beta. “I got this.” 

Once she was standing in front of him, Chloe smiled with as much confidence as she could muster and said: “Hey man, how’s it going?” 

A beat passed. The man didn’t say anything or moved to acknowledge Chloe in any way. 

“Are we going to see Damon?” Chloe tried again, looking around in case she had gotten the wrong person. There was no one else in the area that she recognized as part of Damon’s pack but you never knew with him. Despite his rough reputation, Damon had a thing for picking up strays. “Or are you not here for me?” 

Finally, the Beta turned towards Chloe, grinning a toothy grin at her. 

It was... unsettling, to say the least.

“Right,” Chloe said, putting her hands up and taking a step back, “sorry to bother y—” 

Before she could finish, the man made his move. Chloe saw him reach up but was too slow to stop him from grabbing her by the back of the neck with a vice like grip.

“Hey! What’s your problem?!” His hand was coarse and Chloe tried to shrug him off but he wouldn’t budge. “Let me go!” 

It was a credit to Chloe's reputation as a delinquent that none of the students tried to stop the man from pushing her away from Blackwell's campus and towards the nearby forest.

Chloe huffed, but went willingly. 

He was a Beta, if push came to shove, even an Alpha not particularly dominant like Chloe could push him off with a good pheromone blast. She would have done it already, knowing that he worked for Damon was enough to keep Chloe calm. 

No one on his payroll would dare to mess with her without his express approval. No matter how much he grumbled about it, Damon and Chloe were pack-mates and he looked out for her in his own way.

“Where are we going?” Chloe asked, squirming under his grip but walking forward all the same. “I know you can talk, man. I’ve heard you.” 

The Beta didn’t say anything and Chloe sighed, watching mournfully as the streets and houses gave way to grass and trees as they continued walking. 

It was hard to find out of the way spots in Arcadia Bay—it was too small of a town for any place to be truly secluded—but around the edges of town there were plenty of expanses of dense forests and lonely dirt roads that lead to nowhere. 

_ Perfect places for an ass kicking _ , Chloe thought, grimacing as they left Arcadia Bay behind,  _ or for dumping a body. _

With nothing to focus on, beyond keeping pace with the Beta and trying not to trip on the roots and rocks that covered the ground, Chloe grew more and more anxious the further into the forest they went.

She thought back to all of the awful things that she had imagined and tried very hard not to picture herself tied to one of the nearby trees or covered head to toe in wasps.

_ Keep it together, Price _ .

They had been walking for about fifteen minutes and there had been no signs that they were going anywhere except deeper into the forest. Chloe was getting antsy again when, suddenly, the smell of burning weed reached her sensitive nose.

It felt like a punch to the stomach. Where before, Chloe had wanted everything done and over with, now that the moment was here, she found herself wishing that they could have kept walking forever.

“He’s here,” Chloe whispered, letting herself be lead forward as the forest gave way to a clearing.

The place was brightly lit—a stark contrast to the dark forest that surrounded the clearing—and Chloe saw two men and three women that she assumed were Alphas—it was impossible to tell with the weed, she couldn’t smell anything else—sitting down next to a slow moving river, passing around a joint.

And, standing a few feet behind them with his back against a tree, Chloe saw Damon watching her with a half smile on his face and a lit joint in his hand.

Chloe gritted her teeth and tried very,  _ very _ hard not to whimper. 

_ Keep it together,  _ Chloe repeated silently to herself, stepping forward,  _ one way or another this will be over soon. _

“Took you long enough, runt.” Damon said, grinning, and even over the smell of weed Chloe detected his scent spread all over the clearing. 

She grimaced. 

Damon wasn’t a very imposing man. He stood just about an inch taller than Chloe and was regularly dwarfed by some of the Alphas that he hired as muscles, with long and thin limbs that didn’t spoke of a lot of physical strength. 

But his scent? Chloe had seen Alphas three times his size submit as soon as Damon let his pheromones fly.

The Beta let go of his grip on Chloe’s neck and she heard him shuffle behind her, probably prostrating himself in front of Damon. 

“I came as soon as I could,” Chloe said, turning her head to the side in order to bare her neck as was proper of an Alpha in the presence of their pack leader. Damon was a sucker for tradition. 

Flicking his joint to the side, Damon stepped away from the tree. “I’m sure you did, runt.” 

He walked towards Chloe, using a couple of two by fours nailed together that served as a makeshift bridge to cross the river that separated them.

“I’m sorry.” Chloe said as soon as he was standing in front of her. “I don’t know what came over me.” 

“You’re dismissed,” Damon said, looking over Chloe’s shoulder.

Chloe turned to watch the Beta and as soon as she took her eyes off of Damon, she felt something tug at the straps of her backpack and a pulling kick at the back of her ankles that swept her feet out from under her. 

Then, there was a snapping sound and Chloe’s back exploded with pain. 

She screamed.

“Good thing I’m not interested in your excuses, runt.”

Taking a shaky breath, Chloe opened her eyes. She laying on the ground, with Damon leaning over her. “So-sorry, man.” 

Damon scoffed, standing up straight. “How about you get up so can we get right down to business, runt?”

Chloe nodded. Her back hurt like a bitch, but once the shock of the sudden fall had passed, the pain wasn’t as bad as Chloe had expected.  _ So what broke? _

As soon as that thought passed through her head, Chloe’s mind flashed to the skateboard strapped to the front of her backpack and she groaned, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

She felt a kick to the side of her leg and looked up to find Damon staring down at her with his arms crossed. “Get up already, runt. I haven’t got all day.”

Chloe nodded again and stood up despite the pain. Once she was back on her feet, Chloe took off her backpack and dropped it to the floor. Like she had feared, the skateboard strapped to the front now had a deep crack running down the middle, where bits of the inner wood were exposed and splintered. 

A howl of laughter—high pitched and awful, like a pack of hyenas—sounded from the other side of the clearing and Chloe gritted her teeth. 

“Come on, runt!” Damon shouted, walking closer to the laughing Alphas but staying on Chloe’s side of the river. “Time’s ticking!” 

Kicking her backpack to the side with a furious swipe of her leg, Chloe shoved her hands in her pockets and walked towards Damon, who was looking at her with an amused smile. 

_ Good, _ Chloe thought viciously, trying to keep her anger out of her face,  _ at least one of us is having fun here _ .

When Chloe stood next to Damon, he threw an arm around Chloe’s shoulders and pulled her close. A cloud of his scent washed over Chloe and she had to suppress the urge to gag. “Now, runt, the man you pissed off is a very close business partner of mine and you had the balls to… well, kick him in the balls.” 

Damon laughed at his joke and the rest of the Alphas were quick to follow suit. 

Chloe took advantage of the fact that Damon was too close to her to see her face and rolled her eyes. 

_ Fucking suck-ups. _

“But lucky for you, Frank was kind enough to remind me that the Alpha in question is a colossal asshole and that you’re much more entertaining alive than dead.” Damon said, leading Chloe closer to the edge of the river. “And make no mistake, Price, that’s the only reason you’re not  going to turn up dead in a ditch in tomorrow’s papers.” 

Damon took his arm from around Chloe’s shoulders and turned her around to face him. 

“Thank you?” Chloe tried. Damon nodded dismissively and took a step forward, a cloud of his scent following behind him.

Instinctively, Chloe took a step back. 

“That is not to say that you’re going to walk away from this unpunished, runt.” Damon continued, and Chloe felt her stomach sink to her feet. “That wouldn’t sent the right message, don’t you think?” 

“I..:” Damon took another step forward and Chloe followed suit, stepping back. She wasn’t sure what Damon was up to, but the nausea from his scent was getting harder to keep at bay and the last thing she wanted was to puke in his shoes. “What’s the right message?” 

Damon smiled and took another step forward. Chloe tried to step away again, but she felt her foot slip and heard a splash of water. Looking over her shoulder, Chloe saw the edge of the river was right behind her, with the pack of still snickering Alphas sitting on the other side. 

“What are you…?” Chloe said, turning back towards Damon. He was standing right in front of her, smiling. Chloe’s stomach clenched. “No way!” 

“Took you long enough, runt.” Damon said, grabbing Chloe by the shoulders and spinning her around until she was facing the river. Chloe tried to squirm out of his hold, but a quick burst of dominant pheromones from Damon stopped her struggles in her tracks.

The river wasn’t particularly deep—20 inches at most, if Chloe had to take a quick guess—but it was wide enough that she would be soaked to the bone if she fell in, and in late October, the water was bound to be freezing.  

“Come on, man!” Chloe shouted, gagging at pheromones surrounding her. “I’m gonna die!”

“You won’t,” Damon said, chuckling, “not if you move fast.”

Chloe looked around wildly. The Alphas were all looking at her mockingly and the Beta was nowhere to be seen. If Frank had been there, maybe Chloe could have appealed to him for help, but as it was, there was no one around that would even care to try and give her a hand, let alone stand up to Damon. 

“Please, man,” Chloe tried again, “I get it, I won’t do it again, I swear!” 

“No, you won’t,” Damon said, “that much I can promise you.” 

Then, there was a hard shove to the center of her back and Chloe went stumbling forward.

She managed to get her foot down and take a step, gasping at the cold water and hoping against hope that she would manage to walk out of the river with nothing more than a pair of soaked shoes, but when she tried to take the next step, Chloe slipped.

Seeing herself falling, Chloe put her hands out and managed to catch herself before her head was submerged, gasping as the cold water that hurt like daggers soaked through her jeans and licked at her belly. 

There was a burst of hyena-like laughter coming from the other side of the river and Chloe gritted her teeth, trying to push herself to her feet despite her already numb legs only to fall back down to her knees when her foot slipped in the mud at the bottom of the river. 

The failed attempt only served to spark another howl of laughter from the Alphas but Chloe ignored them and tried again. 

This time, she found her footing and managed to stand up. 

Wading out of the river with stiff and heavy jeans was not an easy task, but Chloe pushed forward and soon she was grasping at the grass along the edge of the river and pulling herself out.

“Hey, runt!” 

The shout made Chloe look up just in time to see Damon rushing towards her. Eyes widening, Chloe didn’t even have time to brace herself before Damon was upon her, pushing her back into the river.

This time, Chloe felt the water in her back and then the world became a mess of distorted colors and rushing water as her head went under and the cold took her breath away. 

Scrambling to get out of the water, Chloe gasped as soon as her head broke the surface.

“How’s the water, Price!” One of the Alphas shouted between fits of laughter and Chloe resisted the urge to give him the finger, too busy trying to stand back up and coughing water.

“Hey!” Damon shouted and Chloe saw him walk to the edge of the river and stretch out his hand. “Time to get out of there, pup!” 

_ Might as well, _ Chloe thought, shivering violently as she waded across the river towards Damon. Distantly, she heard the Alphas stand up and rush to the makeshift bridge to cross the river but Chloe ignored them, desperate to get out of the water. 

Reaching Damon, Chloe took his hand and used it to pull herself up. Maybe it was a ploy and he was going to toss her back into the river as soon as she was out, but refusing his help wasn’t going to do her any good either. 

If Damon wanted her back down into the river, there was nothing that Chloe could do to stop him.

“Up you go,” Damon growled, pulling Chloe up. Immediately, the Alphas were upon them, forming a loose circle around them, .

“Th-thanks.” Chloe muttered, hugging herself to try to stop the shivers. It didn’t help.

“You’re going to walk your frozen ass back home,” Damon said, flicking drops of water towards Chloe, who wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t seen it happen, already soaked to the bone. “And on the way, you’re going to think about what you did, it’s that clear?”

Chloe nodded. As soon as she did the Alphas began jeering, pushing her and shouting:

“So obedient, just like an Omega.” “Sure you weren’t misidentified, Price?” 

Chloe growled. A part of her wanted desperately to shout and bare her teeth—to let out a cloud of pheromones so strong that every Alpha in the clearing stopped laughing and cowered in fear, to make them  _ pay _ —but Chloe knew better than to try.

She wasn’t dominant enough to make anyone submit. The only thing she would get out of letting her pheromones loose would be to enrage Damon into killing her outright.

He really,  _ really _ hated her scent.

Hugging her arms around herself, Chloe closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself somewhere warm and safe, far away from the forest and the fucking river.

“Enough!” Damon shouted, surprising Chloe and stunning the Alphas into silence. “Go back to the Mill, I need to speak alone with the runt.” 

Opening her eyes, Chloe watched silently as the the five Alphas bared their necks and went away without protest.

Around here, Damon’s word was law.

_ I really should remember that. _

Once everyone was out of sight, Damon patted Chloe on the shoulder and looked at her intently.

“You okay, pup?” Damon asked, brushing a few strands of hair out of Chloe’s face. His hand felt warm and Chloe shivered.

“Yeah,” Chloe said, teeth chattering. “I’m fine.” 

Her clothes felt heavy and clung to her skin uncomfortably. Stepping away from Damon, Chloe shrugged off her hoodie, grimacing as she peeled the soaked fabric away from her body and felt her arms break into goosebumps when the air hit her wet skin. 

Damon scoffed. “You’re gonna want to take off more clothes than that, pup. I don’t want you dying on me on the way back.” 

Chloe nodded, reaching down to try an undo her shoelaces with numb and shaking fingers. 

“I heard you skipped a couple of the morning classes,” Damon said, Chloe looked up briefly to see him walk towards her backpack, “I need someone that can get into Blackwell without questions in my pack, not another fucking slacker, so that better be the last time you skip this month or no amount of jumping out of trains is gonna convince me to let you back to another one of my concerts.” 

Chloe who had just managed to kick off her right shoe and had been grimacing at her soaked sock, looked up at Damon with wide eyes.

“There’s going to be more concerts?” Chloe asked, looking hopefully at Damon. 

“Figures that would cheer you up, pup.” Damon said, scoffing. “Yes, I have big plans for the Mill. You might even be part of them, if you behave.” 

“Awesome.” Chloe said, shivering as a gust of wind hit her back going back to the task of taking off her left shoe.

“I don’t know what you see in this things,” Damon said with a sigh. Chloe looked up and saw Damon waving the busted remains of her skateboard, “but you need to get around somehow. I’m going to leave a fifty in your backpack so you can get another one of these.” 

Something inside Chloe loosened up and she smiled, feeling like a weight had fallen off her chest.

_ I guess we’re back to being pack-mates. _

“Thanks, man.” Chloe said looking up at him, grinning.

Damon walked towards her and grabbed her by the front of her shirt, raising a mocking fist at her face. Chloe knew he was joking because no pheromones accompanied the gesture. “If you ever disobey me again, pup, the things I’m going to do to you are going to make today look like a pleasant stroll in the woods, got it?”

Chloe nodded, opening her mouth to fire back a retort, but froze with her mouth hanging open.

_ What? _

Damon frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“I—” Chloe turned towards Damon and back towards the forest, sure her eyes were lying to her. “I think—” 

“What?” Damon barked, pulling her closer by the front of the shirt. 

Chloe tried to blink her eyes clear. She had to be wrong. There was no way she was seeing things right.

But no matter how hard she tried, the vision didn't change. Chloe still saw Rachel Amber standing just off the edge of the clearing, teeth bared and fist clenched, glaring daggers at Damon’s back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I took a winter break but now I'm back and ready to go back to a weekly schedule. Thank you for reading.
> 
> (Also, if anyone made it this far, is there anything you would like to see on the coming chapters? 👀 I'm open to suggestions.)


	4. Ember Tending

_What are you doing here?!_ Chloe thought desperately, shaking from more than just her soaked clothes as she watched Rachel standing there. _You can’t be here!_

“What’s gotten into you, runt?” Damon asked her, pulling Chloe closer by the front of her shirt.

Flicking her eyes back towards him, Chloe swallowed hard.

“I…” What could she say? If Damon turned around he would see Rachel standing there and all hell would break loose. “I…”

“What?” Damon growled, frowning.

“I just…” _Say something. Anything. Anything at all before he tries to see what’s going on for himself._ “I thought I saw a deer.”

There was a moment of silence following her statement and Chloe tried very hard not to cringe. That wasn’t her best lie by a long shot.

In front of her, Damon’s frown deepened.

Then, he burst out laughing.

“Did you take something before coming to see me, runt?”

“No! I—” Chloe almost had a heart attack when she saw Damon turning to look over his shoulder; luckily, he barely even moved his head to the side before turning back to meet Chloe’s eyes. It was definitely not far enough for him to see Rachel, who was standing almost directly behind him.

“There are no deer left in this part of the forest, runt.” Damon said, cutting Chloe off before she had to figure out what else to say. “We scared them all away.”

“I know,” Chloe said, forcing out a laugh. It sounded fake and weak to her ears but Damon didn’t seemed to notice anything wrong. “I was just being an idiot.”

“You _are_ very good at that, pup.” Damon said, sending Chloe staggering back when he pushed her away from him. “Try to keep it together will ya?”

“Sure man,” Chloe said, keeping her gaze fixed on Damon. The last thing she wanted was to give Rachel away with her eyes. “Won’t happen again.”

“Well, like I was saying,” Damon reached into the pocket of his jacket and came back up with a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, “if you ever mess with anyone that works with or for me again, you’re dead. Got it?”

“Yeah, I hear you.”

“Good,” Damon said, lighting up and taking a deep pull from his smoke. “Now get the hell out of here, runt. I don’t want you freezing to death out here.”

Chloe nodded. She was still terribly cold and could feel her hair and clothes sticking to her body like sheets of ice but, somehow, all of that had faded to the background the second she had seen Rachel.

 _Just don’t turn around_ , Chloe thought, bending down to pick up her shoes and socks before rushing to get her backpack. _Just don’t turn around_.

Risking a quick glance up, Chloe saw Rachel was still standing at the edge of the clearing, glaring daggers at Damon’s back

_Fuck._

With all her things in hand, Chloe stood up and nodded towards Damon, baring her neck one last time before dashing away towards the tree line and towards Rachel.

She hadn’t gotten two steps in when Damon’s voice rang out in the clearing.

“Wait!”

Freezing in her tracks, Chloe walked backwards until she was standing in front of Damon again, afraid that he would try to turn around to watch her if she didn’t.

“Yeah?” She asked nervously. Damon occupied most of her field of vision but Chloe could have swore that she saw Rachel take a step forward out of the corner of her eye.

_Fuck. Fuck. FUCK._

“One last thing,” Damon said, smiling around his cigarette. “I forgot to ask. Are you sure that your little rebellion yesterday had nothing to do with that Omega you were with?”

Chloe froze, unable to stop her eyes flicking towards Rachel. “What do you mean?”

“Mark has a very loose tongue once he’s drunk.” Damon said, taking a deep pull from his cigarette and blowing the smoke upwards. “He told me you were with a girl last night. An Omega. A very pretty one, if you believe him.”

“I was,” Chloe said, looking down at the grass, “but she’s no one. Just a girl from Blackwell that happens to like Firewalk.”

“You sure about that, pup?” Damon asked. Chloe looked up to find him grinning widely. “I think you like her. In fact, I’m pretty sure that the whole reason you nailed Mark in the balls was to impress the Omega girl, am I right?”

“I told you man, I barely know her,” Chloe said again. “I wouldn’t do that for her. Mark was just being an asshole”

Damon examined Chloe up and down.

“Good,” he said eventually, taking a few steps back. “Keep it that way, runt. There are easier ways to get laid than to piss me off for an Omega that’s not going to notice you in the end.”

Chloe’s teeth clinked together as she forced down a growl.

“I’m not into her!” Chloe half-shouted, wondering why the words felt bitter in her mouth. “You don’t have to worry about it.”

Damon laughed. It was a boisterous and contagious sound that Chloe normally liked very much, even if there were some days when she couldn’t stomach to hear it. Days like today, for example.

“That’s good,” Damon said, “You gotta remember runt, don’t let Omegas mess with your head. What am I always telling you?”

“The pack comes first.” Chloe said, trying not to wince at the words.

“That’s right, pup. The pack comes first. Always.”

 _You’re not betraying the pack_ , Chloe told herself silently, meeting Damon’s eyes, _you’re just repaying Rachel for trying to help you. Damon would understand, if he really knew._

Still, Chloe wasn’t about to tell him. A gust of wind hit Chloe’s back and she shivered.

“Go home, pup.” Damon said, chuckling. “I don’t want you to freeze out here.”

Swallowing hard, Chloe nodded, suddenly struck by an idea.

“I’m going now.” Chloe said, raising her voice slightly.

A second passed. Damon raised a questioning eyebrow but Chloe ignored him, staying rooted in place. She wanted to buy Rachel time to take the hint and get the hell out of the clearing.

“You do know the way back, right?” Damon asked her.

“I think so, yes.”

Another second passed.

“Then what the hell are you waiting for?” Damon growled. A small cloud of pheromones washed over Chloe and she coughed. “Scram!”

Left with no choice, Chloe bolted for the edge of the clearing, sighing in relief when Rachel was nowhere to be seen.

“And don’t forget to take those clothes off!” Damon called out from behind her. “Better to walk home in the buff than to freeze to death in the forest, you hear me?”

Chloe shouted her agreement and kept running. She didn’t stop until she had crossed the treeline at the edge of the clearing and was reasonably out of Damon’s sight. There, with the afternoon sun hidden by the trees, Chloe felt her teeth start to chatter immediately.

Hugging herself to try to keep the cold at bay, Chloe looked around cautiously.

“Rachel?”

There was no answer, but Chloe heard a rustle of clothes from behind a nearby tree and walked towards the sound. There, she found Rachel leaning back against a tree with her fists clenched and her eyes closed.

“Hey,” Chloe said softly, putting a hand on Rachel’s shoulder, who opened her eyes immediately. “Are you okay?”

“Me?” Rachel asked, straightening up immediately. “Are _you_ okay?”

Shifting nervously in place, Chloe winced and took her hand away. “Sure I am, now, could you mind keeping your voi—”

Rachel’s hand ghosted over Chloe’s shoulder and she gasped. “No you’re not. You’re _freezing_.”

“Yeah, I know, but you really need to keep your—”

“I’m going to kill him.” Rachel growled, turning towards the clearing and Chloe’s eyes widened.

 _Goddammit_.

“No you’re not.” Chloe said, hugging Rachel from behind and putting one hand over her mouth. Rachel struggled briefly but Chloe didn’t let her go. “We need to get out of here before he hear us, okay? I’m sorry, but I can’t let you keep talking so loudly.”

Rachel turned her head towards Chloe and gave her an evil look, but nodded churlishly all the same.

“Okay,” Chloe said, taking a step back, “come with me.”

Chloe pointed in the general direction of Arcadia Bay and—when Rachel nodded again—started walking towards the town, making sure to take a slightly roundabout path to ensure they wouldn’t run into anyone from the pack trying to go to the clearing.

The deeper they went into the forest, the more Chloe started to shiver, but she ignored her discomfort and kept walking until she was sure they were far away enough from the clearing that it should be safe to talk.

There, Chloe stopped and turned around to face Rachel.

“Here’s fine.” Chloe said between chattering teeth. “Now, what the hell are you doing here Rachel?”

“I saw you getting dragged away from school.” Rachel answered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I thought you might be in trouble, so I followed you.”

Chloe frowned.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that you cared enough to go all the way out here to try and help me, but that was really dangerous. You could have been seriously hurt.”

“Me?” Rachel said, crossing her arms. “I’m not the one that ended up tossed into a river in the middle of October.”

“That’s fair.” Chloe said, wincing. She had kind of hoped that Rachel hadn’t seen that part. “But it’s different for me.”  

“Why?” Rachel barked, baring her teeth. Chloe’s eyes widened.

“Because—” Chloe quickly discovered that words were hard when an Omega was angry with you. “I...”

“Because I’m just a fragile little Omega and you’re a big bad Alpha?” Rachel asked with a sneer.

“No!” Chloe shouted back, wondering how things had gotten out of hand so quickly. “I didn’t say that!”

“Then why?” Rachel growled.

“Because you’re the DA’s daughter!” Chloe shouted finally, gesturing towards the clearing. “And that, right there, was Arcadia Bay’s biggest criminal! What do you think he would do if he got his hands on you?”

“Oh.”

Chloe, who was breathing hard and was ready for another shout, stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Rachel deflate and look down at the ground.

“Yeah,” Chloe tried, wincing. As much as she had hated Rachel growling at her, she was rapidly discovering that she preferred the anger to the quiet, sad Rachel that had been left in her steed. “I just… your Dad is causing a lot of trouble for those guys. It would have been bad news if they saw you.”

“I’m sorry,” Rachel said, looking down and Chloe panicked.

“No!” She said, taking a step forward. “ _I’m_ sorry! I was being a jerk when you were just trying to help.”

Rachel looked up and laughed sadly. “No, you weren’t. I just…”

“It’s fine.” Chloe said, “I’m sure that wouldn’t have been the first time someone told you you couldn’t do something because you’re an Omega.”

Rachel laughed again, stronger this time, and Chloe grinned.

It was a beautiful sound.

“We should get going.” Chloe said after a second, nodding towards the forest. “I wanna get home before the sun goes down.”

“Not so fast,” Rachel said taking a step forward and catching Chloe’s hand. The difference in temperatures was startling and Chloe shivered. “I hate to say it, but that asshole in the clearing was right about something.”

“He was?” Chloe asked dumbly, too busy relishing the way Rachel’s warm hand slowly brought feeling back to her numb fingers to worry about anything else.

“Yes,” Rachel said, running her thumb across the back of Chloe’s hand. “We really need to get you out of these clothes.”

That made Chloe pay attention.

“I’m fine,” Chloe tried, putting on what she hoped was a brave grin on her face, “let’s just get out of here quickly.”

Letting go of Chloe’s hand—Chloe tried very, very hard not to whimper at the loss—Rachel crossed her arms. “You’re not fine, Chloe Price. Your skin feels like ice.”

Groaning, Chloe looked down at herself.

Rachel was right, of course. Getting out of her soaked clothes would go a long way towards helping her get warm again, but... Chloe sighed. It was one thing to get naked in front of Damon—he wouldn’t have cared even if Chloe ended up in her birthday suit in front of him—but to do it in front of Rachel?

 _It’s not like I have a choice_ , Chloe thought glumly as her teeth started to chatter again, _might as well get it over with._

“You’re right,” Chloe said, trying to sound less unsure than she was. “I have to.”

“Good, I—”

Chloe didn’t hear the rest, taking hold of the bottom of her shirt and peeling the soaked fabric off her body in one smooth move. The shirt dragged uncomfortably over her head when she pulled it off, but Chloe did her best to ignore her feeling, along with the goosebumps that rose along her skin when she was finally free of the shirt.

Tossing it to the ground, Chloe looked up to find Rachel staring at her with a weird look in her eyes.

“Better to get it over with, right?”  Chloe said, shuffling in place.

“Sorry,” Rachel said, wide eyed, and turned around. “I’ll let you change.”

“I don’t really have anything to change into.”

Rachel made a sympathetic noise in the back of her throat.

 _Halfway there,_ Chloe thought, looking down at herself. Her jeans felt even worse than the shirt had, heavy and stiff with water as they were, so it was a relief when Chloe finally felt them slide down her legs and onto the ground.

Stepping out of them, Chloe shock of some of the water off her body, bringing feeling back to her scalp when she ran a hand through her still dripping hair. There, she paused.

There was no way she was taking anything else off with Rachel there, Chloe decided quickly. Bad enough that the Omega would have to see Chloe in nothing but soaking wet boxers briefs and a sports bra, Chloe wasn’t about to make herself look even more pathetic by walking around _really_ naked.

Sighing, Chloe crouched down to pick up her clothes and shove them into her backpack, stopping herself when she saw a couple of books and a notebook still inside.

“Hey, Rach?” Chloe asked, taking her stuff out.

“Yeah?”

Chloe held out the books and notebook towards Rachel without looking up, busy studying her broken skateboard and putting the fifty dollars Damon had left her in a safe pocket. “Can you help me out with this? I don’t want this to get wet.”

“Sure.” Rachel said. There was a pause. Chloe finished messing with her backpack and looked up to find Rachel staring down at her, wide eyed.

Chloe looked down at herself and winced.

 _Some Alpha I am_ , Chloe thought wryly. _Down to my underwear, soaking wet and shivering every other second_.

“Here.” Chloe said, offering the books again. This time, Rachel nodded and took the bundle wordlessly. “Thanks.”

Chloe stuffed her clothes into the backpack and stood up. A drop of water dripped down from her hair and rolled down her body when she did, making Chloe shiver.

Rachel made an odd sound—a mix between a squeak and a cough that Chloe had never heard before—but when Chloe looked up, Rachel was already busy shoving Chloe’s things into her own backpack, seemingly okay.

Shrugging, Chloe jumped in place lightly to try and get some feeling back into her body and turned around.

“I think we have to go that way.” She said, pointing at the general direction where she assumed Arcadia Bay was. “What do you think?”

There was a gasp and the next thing Chloe knew, a soft hand had landed on the center of her back, freezing her in her tracks.

“What happened?” Rachel asked, softly.

“I don’t kn—” Chloe hissed when the hand pressed down slightly. Right. She had almost forgotten about the enormous bruise on her back.

A second hand landed on her shoulder and Chloe stood perfectly still as Rachel’s fingers traced a path on Chloe’s back.

“Did he do this to you?” Rachel asked eventually, voice cold.

“No,” Chloe said, smiling slightly, “that was all me.”

“How?” Rachel asked and Chloe felt the words against her back like a warm puff of air.

“I…” For some odd reason, Chloe was finding it hard to string thoughts together. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I jumped out of a train last night to get to the Mill. I might have landed wrong.”

Rachel’s hands fell away from her back and Chloe mourned the contact instantly. “You what?”

“I jumped out of a train,” Chloe said, turning around to face Rachel. “I didn’t want to miss anything from Firewalk’s gig!”

Chloe figured it would be better not to tell her that Damon had been the one that made her jump out of the train in the first place. Rachel already seemed to have a bad enough impression of Damon as it was. Chloe didn’t want to make it worse.

“You,” Rachel said, poking Chloe in the shoulder, “are crazy, Chloe Price.”

In Rachel’s mouth, being called crazy almost sounded like a good thing. Chloe smiled.

“Not crazier than you, following a bunch of criminals into the woods.”

“Touche.”

Turning around to face the forest, Chloe sighed. “We really should get going.”

“Just one last thing.” There was a rustle of clothes and Chloe turned around to see Rachel take off her flannel shirt and offer it to Chloe with a smile. “Here, put this on.”

Chloe opened her mouth to object—the black shirt that Rachel had been left with seemed a bit too thin to offer any warmth—but then she remembered how defensive Rachel had been when she thought Chloe was treating her differently for being and Omega and reconsidered.

“Thank you.” Chloe said instead, smiling.

“No problem.” Rachel said, grinning back. “I hope it helps.”

Looking down, Chloe examined the shirt. It had seemed a bit big on Rachel, so it would probably be a good fit on her. Slipping it on, Chloe had to bite back a moan. It was perfect, made of a thick and soft material that was gentle with Chloe’s back and immediately chased away the worst of the cold by insulating her frozen skin from the wind.

“Better?” Rachel asked, hiding a smile behind her hand.

“Much,” Chloe said, rolling her shoulders. She felt in heaven. It didn’t hurt that Rachel’s scent covered the shirt completely, filling Chloe’s nose as soon as she slipped it on.

“I don’t think it’s really meant to close,” Rachel said, taking a step forward and pulling the ends of the shirt together only to let them fall back when they didn’t even came close to closing, “but it should be better than nothing.”

“It’s perfect, Rach.” Chloe said, feeling her face get hot with Rachel so close to her. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Chloe took a deep breath and stepped away from Rachel. “ _Now_ we really have to get going. I don’t want to be here when night falls.”

“No kidding.” Rachel said, shoving her hands into her pockets. “Lead the way, Price.”

Turning around, Chloe started walking. There weren’t a lot of landmarks to guide her beyond ‘that really tall tree’ or ‘that funny shaped rock’ but Chloe let her nose and memory guide the way, following the scent of car exhausts and humans until—about 10 minutes later—the Blackwell campus was back on sight.

“Fuck yeah!” Chloe shouted when she saw it and rushed ahead. Without the canopy of trees to stop it, the sun still shone brightly on the street and Chloe stood in the middle of the sunniest area, basking in the warmth.

“Chloe!” Rachel whispered harshly. Chloe turned towards her and saw Rachel pointing to the other side of the street where a white haired lady was watching Chloe wide eyed.

 _Right,_ Chloe thought, smiling weakly at the lady, _still only on my underwear._

It was one thing to walk around half-naked in the middle of the forest. It was another thing entirely to do the same in the middle of Arcadia Bay proper.

“Come on!” Rachel shouted, grabbing Chloe’s arm and dragging her closer to the edge of the woods. “My house is closer than yours. I can lend you some clothes.”

“Thanks.” Chloe said, allowing herself to be lead away.

A few seconds passed and then Chloe frowned.

“Wait, how do you even know where my house is?”

Rachel tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I saw you out in your yard, once. My family and I were just moving into town and I think we took a wrong turn, because we passed right in front of your house. I think you were trying to mow the lawn?”

Chloe tried to think back to that moment but nothing came to her mind. She had mowed the lawn hundreds of times at this point and none of those times stood out in her brain.

“Trying?” Chloe asked.

“You were kicking the lawn mower a lot.”

 _Right_ , Chloe thought, smiling wryly, _I do that._

“That lawnmower is an asshole, I’m telling you.”

“I’m sure it is.”

They kept walking for a second and then Chloe turned towards Rachel again.

“And you remembered that? It’s been… what, a year?”

Rachel laughed. “I have a very good memory. I need it, to memorize all my lines.”

That sparked a memory in Chloe’s brain. She had seen posters of The Tempest laying all around campus and Rachel was featured prominently in most of them—she remembered because the outfit Rachel was wearing in the poster had struck her as incredibly odd.

“That’s right,” Chloe said, snapping her fingers, “you’re in The Tempest, aren’t you? You have this weird outfit with horns...”

“Yep,” Rachel said, “that’s me. I’m playing Prospero.”

“That’s a really important dude, right?”

“The main character.”

Chloe whistled. “That’s huge! I’ll have to go see it.”

“You should,” Rachel said, smiling back towards Chloe, “you might really like it.”

“I’m sure I will.” Chloe said, already plotting how to get her hands on a ticket. Damon usually helped her out with a lot of Blackwell’s expenses, but she wasn’t sure if he would consider a school play something worth spending money on. Maybe asking Frank would be a better idea.

_Or that fifty Damon gave me, but then I'm stuck without a skateboard..._

Lost in her thoughts, Chloe walked silently by Rachel’s side as the classic suburban houses gave way slowly to more lavish terrains and parts of town where Chloe would feel out of place even if she _was_ wearing pants.

“You live here?” Chloe asked, huddling closer to the edge of the forest. She was pretty sure the people of this neighborhood would not hesitate to call the police if they saw her walking around in her underwear.

“Nearby. We’re almost there.”

A few minutes later, Rachel stepped away from the trees and made a beeline for a big house at the end of the street. Chloe followed her gingerly. The house was beautiful and as far removed from Chloe’s own worn down home as you could get in Arcadia Bay.

Rachel stopped at the door and beckoned Chloe closer. “My Dad’s still at work but my Mom is always home, so we have to be careful. Dad has very strict rules about inviting Alphas to the house.”

“You sure it’s okay for me to go inside then?” Chloe asked, swallowing hard. Some Alphas were really particular about making sure their homes only smelled like them. It was a whole territorial thing that Chloe had only really seen in action with Damon and that hadn't been pretty. “I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“It’ll be fine.” Rachel said. “Besides…”

“What?”

Rachel leaned forward and sniffed Chloe’s shoulders, who watched her wide eyed. “I don’t think your scent is going to be a problem.”

“It’s not?” Chloe ask mindlessly as Rachel took a step back.

“After your dunk in the river I can’t really smell you over my shirt and I’m standing right beside you. As long as you don’t go crazy with the pheromones, I’m sure it will be fine.”

“Don’t worry,” Chloe said, grinning. “I’ll behave.”

With one last smile towards Chloe, Rachel took a pair of keys out from her pocket and opened the door, calling out a greeting. “I’m home!”

Chloe waited outside until Rachel gave her a thumbs up and then she followed Rachel inside.

The interior of the house seemed like it had been pulled straight out of a magazine, with matching furniture and decorations that looked like they costed more than Chloe’s entire room.

 _Fuck,_ Chloe thought, swallowing hard and looking down at herself, _I really wish I had pants on._

“Hi dear!” A woman said from further inside the house. “How was your day?”

Rachel took Chloe’s hand and dragged her to a nearby set of stairs, pushing her up. “Good! And yours?”

Climbing the steps until the place where the stairs turned, Chloe looked down, watching as Rachel went back to the door and took off her shoes, acting perfectly at ease and not at all like she was sneaking an Alpha into her house.

“Excellent.” The voice sounded closer this time and Chloe took another step up the stairs. “I’m making salmon for dinner. Do you want me to fix you a snack? The fish won’t be ready for another couple hours.”

“No, thank you, Mom.” Rachel said, letting down her backpack and smiling at someone Chloe couldn’t see. “I’m still a bit tired from last night. I think I’m just going to take a nap until Dad gets home, if that’s okay?”

There was a pause and then the woman asked. “Are you feeling okay, sweetie?”

Rachel walked out of Chloe’s sight. “Yes Mom, don’t worry. I’m just tired.”

“Okay then, dear. I’ll wake you up when dinner is ready.”

There was a murmur of agreement and then Rachel appeared barreling up the stairs. She took Chloe’s hand in hers and pulled her the rest of the way up the stairs until they were standing at the end of a long hallway. Here, the scent of the house changed from an almost neutral smell to a more personal one and Chloe took a few deep breaths to try and make out the different scents.

Rachel's was the easiest to identify, a smoky scent that Chloe was quickly becoming familiar with, and that helped her isolate the scent of another Omega—Rachel’s mom—but there were also hints of a much harsher smell that immediately rubbed Chloe the wrong way.

 _Alpha_ , Chloe thought, _and a dominant one at that, although not as much as Damon or David._

“Over here,” Rachel whispered pulling Chloe towards a nearby door.

Chloe nodded and followed Rachel inside the room, smiling widely once they made it inside.

“What do you think?” Rachel asked, closing the door and walking to the center of the room.

“It’s perfect.” Chloe said and she meant it, too.

Unlike the rest of the impeccable house, this room looked like a place where someone actually lived in, instead of a magazine spread. There were little knick-knacks scattered around every surface of the room and the walls were full of posters and decorations, like a row of theater masks or a scattering of glow-in-the-dark plastic stars.

“Thank you,” Rachel said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Walking around, Chloe stopped in front of a pamphlet from a previous play Blackwell had put on that was taped to the wall. Rachel wasn’t on the cover of this one, but her name was featured prominently on the top.

“You really like to act, uh?”

“I always have,” Rachel said, coming up behind Chloe and running a finger down the center of the poster. “One day, when I get out of here, I’m going to become an actress or a model.”

Chloe laughed quietly.

“Do you think that’s stupid?” Rachel asked softly with a sad smile on her face.

“No!” Chloe rushed to say, wide eyed. “Not at all. It’s just…”

 _I can already see it_ . Chloe thought fervently, wishing she knew how to put the feeling she had gotten from Rachel’s declaration into words. _I can see how someone out there is going to pay millions one day to have your smile and your laugh in their movie._

But the words got stuck in her throat and Chloe ended up smiling awkwardly. “I don’t think it’s stupid. The only stupid thing would be to think that’s stupid.”

Chloe cringed. Hard.

 _That’s not what I meant to say_ , Chloe thought, watching fascinated as Rachel burst out laughing.

She had always thought that you could tell a lot about someone based on the way they laughed.

Rachel’s laugh was beautiful.

“Thank you,” Rachel said eventually, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “You’re very sweet for a train jumping badass.”

Chloe huffed out a laugh and looked down, stopping when she saw a couple of wet spots on Rachel’s shirt. “I think I got your shirt wet.”

“I guess we both need to change.” Rachel said, looking down and snapping her eyes back up almost immediately. “Let me get you some clothes.”

Nodding, Chloe watched as Rachel went to her closet and started rummaging around, tossing a shirt to her bed quickly and then digging deeper into the drawers until she had a small bundle of clothes in her arms.

“Here. Try those on.”

Chloe took the clothes and put them in the bed, taking the pair of jeans first. They seemed brand new and decidedly too big for Rachel.

“They were a gift from my grandma.” Rachel said, gesturing towards the jeans. “I forgot to exchange them.”

“Lucky me.”

Chloe tried them on. They were a decent fit, even if they were a bit baggy around the hips and tight around the crotch.

Struggling with the zipper, Chloe almost missed the sound of the door creaking open.

“Hey baby, are you—”

Chloe looked up. There was a man peeking his head inside the room. Chloe recognized him immediately. Everyone in Arcadia Bay knew the district DA.

He seemed frozen in place and Chloe risked a quick glance towards Rachel, eyes widening when she saw her.

Rachel must have been in the middle of changing, because she had no shirt on and was staring open mouthed at the door.

Then, Chloe looked down at herself. Pants half undone, shirt open and skin still faintly glistening, like she had just taken a shower or sweated a bunch.

A growl sounded from the door and Chloe closed her eyes.

_Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I borrowed the title for this chapter from the amazing: [The world not reeling](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1782397/chapters/3818098) by ImPerrin. It’s a jewel and if you have the time, I would absolutely recommend reading it.


	5. James

_Fuck._

Chloe heard a loud _bang_ —she imagined it was the sound of the door slamming against the wall but with her eyes still closed she couldn’t be sure—and before she knew it, her nose was being assaulted by a wave of Alpha pheromones that almost brought her to her knees.

 _Don’t puke,_ Chloe told herself, gagging on the sour smell that filled the room and demanded submission, _you don’t wanna die covered in puke._

A loud, rumbling growl filled the room that had been otherwise deadly silent. Chloe shivered and fought the instinct to fall to her knees and expose her neck.

 _That’s. Not. Happening._ Chloe thought, gritting her teeth and finding herself forced to lock her knees in place to try to keep herself standing.

Then, once she felt the tiniest bit more steady on her feet, Chloe opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was the gleaming white teeth of a furious looking James Amber, who was glaring daggers at her from his position in front of the now wide open door. He was hunched in front of it with his fists clenched, almost like he was guarding it, and there was a crazed look in his eyes that almost brought Chloe to the floor.

_He’s raging. Oh fuck, he’s really raging._

Chloe opened her mouth—the pheromones in the air so thick that she could almost taste them—and closed it again just as quickly.

What could she possibly say? This is not what it looks like?

She might not pay a lot of attention in class, but even Chloe knew that a raging Alpha was heavily protected by the law, specially if someone intruded upon them mating or if they found themselves defending their home or their Omega.

Hell, the man could probably kill her right then and there and he wouldn’t get anything more serious than a slap on the wrist when the cops got there.

James took a step forward and Chloe flinched, matching the movement with a nervous step back that left her shaking.

_Say something! Anything!_

“S-sir—”  

James took another step forward and Chloe abandoned any attempt to speak, taking a stumbling step back to maintain the distance between them. She wasn’t sure if that would help at all if he decided to charge, but she had no idea what else to do.

“Dad!”

The shout made Chloe jump. She had been so focused on the Alpha in front of her that she had almost forgotten that Rachel was also in the room.

James didn’t seemed to hear her, never taking his eyes off of Chloe as he took another slow step forward.

This time, Chloe didn’t get a chance to move back. She saw a blur of motion out of the corner of her eyes and turned her head to side just in time to see Rachel running past her and straight towards James, who caught her by the arm as soon as she was within reach and pulled her to his side.

His grip looked rough and Chloe found her eyes glued to the point of contact where James’ fingers were digging into Rachel’s bare arm like a vice grip.

Distantly, Chloe noticed her chest rumbling with a growl, but she was too busy watching James wrap his arm around Rachel’s neck and crush her to his chest to pay any notice to the barely audible sound.

 _I should care about this_ , Chloe thought, the growl in her chest increasing in volume until it was almost distinguishable over James’ continuous growl, _I really should._

But she didn’t, Chloe realized, not even a little bit. She was basking on the feeling of standing up straight and just… _growling_.

It felt _amazing._

Chloe took a step forward and the feeling in her chest grew to dizzying heights, encouraging her forward like a voice shouting in her ear: Move! Growl! _Fight_!

Chloe obeyed, moving forward again.

Then a noise stopped her next step. It was a joyful sound and one that was so incredibly out of place in their current situation that it couldn’t be ignored.

Rachel was laughing. Not just that, she was roaring with laughter, her head buried in her father’s chest and her entire body convulsing with her joy.

_What the…?_

Suddenly, the weight of everything that she had just happened came crashing down on top of Chloe. She had _growled_ at a more dominant Alpha in _his own home_ . She had been ready to _fight_ him.

_Fuck._

Chloe exhaled shakily, stumbling backwards until the back of her knees hit Rachel’s bed, shaking all over and curling forward like she had just been punched in the stomach, making herself as small and nonthreatening as she could short of baring her neck and falling to her knees.

_What was I thinking?_

The sound of joyful laughter still filled the room and Chloe looked up to see James staring down at Rachel with a dumbstruck expression, his grip now slack on her shoulders.

“What?” James asked, the words sounding more like a growl than normal speech.

It sent a shiver down Chloe’s spine but Rachel didn’t seemed to be affected, drawing her head away from James’ chest and smiling up at her him like he had just told her the biggest joke of the century.

“Oh, you’re so dead.” Rachel said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

“What?” James asked again, his brow furrowed. Chloe could have swore that the air felt a little lighter.

“Oh yeah,” Rachel said, still smiling, “super dead.”

“Me?” James asked, taking his eyes off of Rachel long enough to watch Chloe and then he turned right back towards Rachel. “Not..” James gestured towards Chloe with his head.

“Nope.” Rachel said, popping the p at the end and reaching hand up to pat her father’s cheek. “You.”

“Why?” James asked, his growling voice a sharp contrast to the bewilderment in his face.

Chloe realized her mouth was hanging open and closed it with a click of teeth. Of course. Alphas had a very hard time thinking when they let their instincts take over—especially if they were raging—and Chloe silently marveled at Rachel’s brilliance. By acting so strangely, she had confused James enough that he was going to have to calm down if he wanted to figure out what was going on.

“What are you—” James stopped and cleared his throat. This time, Chloe was positive there were a lot less pheromones flooding the air than before. “What are you talking about?”

Like someone had flicked a switch in her brain, Chloe saw Rachel’s entire demeanor change as she took a step back and away from James. Suddenly, there was a frown on her face and she was pointing an accusing finger towards James’ chest, whose eyes widened.

“Because Mom is going to murder you.” Rachel said, her voice dripping with anger. “What were you thinking?”

“What?” James asked, taking a step back.

Chloe would have found it funny how freaked out he looked, if she herself wasn’t so terrified all of the sudden.

Alphas didn’t generally dealt well with angry Omegas. Sure, there were a few like Damon that could wave them off like it was nothing, but most Alphas were simply ill equipped for a such as thing, especially if they were caught unprepared as James had been.

“You scared my friend!” Rachel shouted, putting her hands on her hips. “She’s had a very hard day and you made it worse! What’s wrong with you?!.”

“I—What? Friend? I thought—”

“How could you?” Rachel asked, turning her back on James who watched the whole thing wide eyed. “She’s not even an Alpha!”

_What?_

“She’s not?” James asked, frowning. Chloe saw his eyes flick towards her and she winced, holding the fly of her jeans closed with a tighter and hoping that her hands would be enough to obscure the view of the very Alpha thing that was in her underwear.

 _There’s no way this is going to work,_ Chloe thought, smiling weakly at James. He seemed a lot more lucid than before—his eyes were almost clear—and if nothing else at least that probably meant that Chloe wouldn’t get beaten to a pulp today.

“I was just lending my friend some clothes and you went all aggro on her for no reason.”

“Your friend?”

“Yes,” Rachel said, rolling her eyes, “ she’s my friend. A bunch of Alpha assholes dumped a bucket of water over her head as a prank. She was freezing! Our house was closer than hers, so I told her that she could come change here.”

 _Wow,_ Chloe thought, watching the emotions fly over Rachel’s face as if she was remembering that whole made up incident, _she really is a good actress._

“I thought she had just—” James closed his mouth and turned to face Chloe, frowning. “Who are you? Do I know you?”

“No!” Chloe half-shouted, taking a hurried step forward. Rachel shot her a warning look from behind James’ back and Chloe stopped, swallowing hard. “I mean, I don’t think so. I go to Blackwell with Rachel and everything, but I’m not in the Drama Club.”

 _You might have seen me around Damon, though,_ Chloe thought, trying to scratch the back of her neck and stopping herself when she felt the jeans start to slide down her hips, grabbing them again just in time to awkwardly keep them in place, _he’s certainly seen your guys sniffing around the Mill a couple of times._

“Why are you so nervous?” James asked, taking a step forward. Chloe saw his nostrils flare and realized her was trying to scent her.

“I—”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Rachel interrupted her, “Maybe because a half-feral Alpha barged in on her when she was in the middle of changing.”

Chloe couldn’t help but laugh quietly when she saw the panic on James’ face double when his eyes traveled down Chloe’s chest—that was covered only by her bra and an open flannel—then to Rachel—who was pretty much in the same situation, minus the flannel—and the up, where it stayed glued to the ceiling.

“I’m sorry.” James said, still looking up.

“Don’t worry about it, dude. I mean, sir. Don’t worry about it, sir.” Chloe said, wishing desperately that this day would just end already.

“I’m still sorry, I’ll let you change.” James said, then he paused and Chloe saw his fist clench at his sides. “But don’t take too long, we’re not done talking about this.”

His gaze lowered and he met Chloe’s eyes briefly. He seemed clear headed enough, but Chloe wasn’t sure if he had actually bought the story or if he was simply waiting for her to get dressed to kick her ass.

“I’ll go talk to your mother,” James said, turning towards Rachel, “she must be worried.”

And with that, he walked out the door. Chloe hadn’t realized how tense she was until she saw him disappear through the doorway and her whole body relaxed.

“That was close.” Rachel said walking to the door and closing it behind him.

“Close?” Chloe asked, relaxing her grip on her jeans. Her hands felt stiff and Chloe realized they were shaking badly. “You think that was close? He almost _killed me_ ”

Chloe sat down on the bed and whimpered when she felt a dull pain coming from her legs. She hadn’t realized just how much of an effort it had been to remain standing when all her body wanted to do was kneel.

“Hey,” Rachel said, crouching down in front of Chloe, who blinked up to meet her eyes. “Are you okay?”

 _No,_ Chloe wanted to say, _I’ve been terrified all day. I’m exhausted._

But she swallowed down the words and tried to smile even though she felt like she was still shaking like crazy.

“Yeah. I am.”

“Are you sure?” Rachel asked, resting a hand on Chloe’s knee.

“Yep,” Chloe tried again, her voice coming out a tiny bit more confident, “just a bit shaken up. Your dad packs a punch in the scent department.”

Rachel scoffed.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Rachel said, standing up. “Come on, stand up. I know what will make you feel better.”

The only thing that could possibly make her feel better right now would be to get as far away from this house as she could. Far away from Damon and James and David and every other Alpha in the world until she felt strong enough to stay on her feet without shaking and nothing hurt.

Chloe looked up to say just that to Rachel, but couldn’t get the words out.

Rachel was hugging one arm to her middle with the other hanging at her side and Chloe was suddenly struck by just how _beautiful_ this girl was, with hopeful eyes and that damned blue feather hanging from her ear like a lucky charm. The brave girl that had stood up to her father in the middle of a rage to save Chloe’s ass.

 _I don’t think I can say no to her,_ Chloe thought, finding her footing and heaving herself up groan, _that could be a problem someday_.

“What now?” Chloe asked once she was back on her feet, her whole body aching.

Rachel smiled and walked towards Chloe, who found herself spellbound by the swing of Rachel’s hips as she moved.

“Wh-What?”

Rachel stopped right in front of Chloe, who watched wide eyed as Rachel slipped her hands around Chloe’s waist and pulled her close, burrowing her face on Chloe’s neck so closely that Chloe could feel the warm puffs of air of Rachel’s breaths.

“I—” Chloe lifted her arms, unsure of where to put them and entirely too focused on the way Rachel’s naked skin was touching her own to be able to process anything else. “Rachel...”

A warm scent reach Chloe’s nose, who took a deep breath and was greeted by a lungful of a warm, smoky smell that loosened something in Chloe’s chest she hadn’t even know was there and left her wanting more.

_Rachel_

Tightening her hold against the Omega, Chloe pulled her close and buried her nose on top of Rachel’s head, breathing in her the sweet scent of her pheromones.

“Better?” Rachel asked after a moment and Chloe felt her smile against her neck.

“Yeah.” Chloe said and was surprised to realize that she meant it. She felt so much better now, with James’ scent out of her nose and an armful of Rachel, that she had felt all week. “Thanks.”

Rachel laughed and Chloe smiled against her hair.

She was starting to love the sound of her laugh.

They stayed like that for a while, with Rachel’s pheromones covering Chloe until she was no longer shaking. Then, Chloe felt Rachel’s arms fall away from her back and she regretfully stepped back, shivering at the lost of warmth.

“We need to get you out of here. You have had a hard day. You need to rest.” Rachel said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Right,” Chloe said, looking around the room until her eyes landed on the purple curtains that covered Rachel’s window. “Are there any trees near your window?”

Rachel glared at her.

“I’m serious,” Chloe said, “I think I have a better chance against the window than against your Dad.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Rachel said, crossing her arms. “You were shaking like a leaf 5 minutes ago. It’s a miracle you’re still standing after the day you’ve had.”

Something ugly reared its head inside Chloe’s chest, demanding that she prove to Rachel that she was anything but weak and still had fight for days, but Chloe took a deep breath and stamped down that instinct easily.

Rachel was right. Her legs ached, her back felt like it was on fire and she was so damned tired that she could probably fall asleep standing.

“Your Dad is gonna kill me.” Chloe said, letting herself fall back on Rachel’s bed until she was lying flat on her back with her legs out.

“I told you, you don’t really smell like anything right now.” Rachel said, looking down at Chloe with a wry smile.

Chloe took a deep breath. At first, the only she could smell was Rachel’s scent; it was covering her clothes and the whole room, just like when they first entered the room, but soon, Chloe’s sensitive nose started to pick up other scents.

Fear, most of it hers but now that she was focused, she could smell Rachel’s fear too—had she been afraid? Rachel had seemed so confident when she was facing down her Dad that it didn’t seemed possible, but she could still smell it—and the sour undertone of James’ dominance still clinging to the corners of the room.

But Rachel was right, his was the only Alpha she could pick up.

“Don’t worry,” Rachel said, offering her hand to Chloe, “you don’t even have to say anything. We just have to go down, Dad apologizes again and then you’re out the door.”

“You make it sound so easy.” Chloe said, taking Rachel’s hand and using it to stand up.

“It will be,” Rachel said, lifting her chin in a move that could have been seen as haughty if only she wasn’t so damn charismatic, “let’s just get dressed and this will all be over in a flash.”

Chloe nodded and went to work on her clothes, finally managing to close her jeans around her hips and putting on the shirt that Rachel had given her, basking in the unique comfort of finally being comfortable after a hard day. Standing still, she she could almost imagine that the clothes fit her perfectly.

“How do I look?” Chloe asked, turning around to face a now fully dressed Rachel who was watching with a weird look on her eyes. “What?” Chloe asked, looking down at herself self-consciously.

Rachel turned around and grabbed something from her dresser, coming back with a bundle of black fabric that she tossed at Chloe’s head. “Here, put this on.”

“Another gift from grandma?” Chloe asked, unraveling the fabric to reveal a bad-ass looking hoodie with Firewalk’s logo on the front.

“It was the only size they had. I didn’t want to go back home empty handed.”

“This wicked cool, Rach.” Chloe said, grinning. “But I don’t really think I need it. Your flannel shirt is plenty warm.

“I know.” Rachel said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Then why did you give it to me?”

Rachel laughed under her breath and Chloe looked down at the hoodie again, like it would tell her what the joke was if only she looked closely enough.

“Seriously, Rachel, what’s going on?”

“Okay, it’s just that, without the hoodie, my dad really is going to kill you.”

Chloe took the fabric to her nose and took a deep breath. It didn’t really smelled like anything beyond the chemical scent of a brand new piece of clothing, and even then it wasn’t a particularly strong scent.

“I thought you said I didn’t smelled like anything.”

“You don’t.” Rachel said quickly, then looked down. “He’s not going to have to smell you to know you’re an Alpha if you don’t.”

“Uh?”

Rachel gestured towards Chloe, who followed her gaze straight to the very prominent bulge on the too tight jeans she was wearing.

“Oh!” Chloe breathed out, looking up at Rachel with wide eyes. “Oh!”

Chloe scrambled to put on the hoodie, almost tangling with the sleeves but managing to put it on anyway. It was a nice fit. A little large but just to be comfy. It would probably do a good job at keeping the front of her jeans obscured.

“Better?” Chloe asked shoving her hands on the front pocket and pulling it down with a wince.

“Definitely a more Beta look.” Rachel said, looking Chloe in the eye with a smile. “Ready to face the music?”

Chloe nodded, swallowing hard.

“It’s going to be fine.” Rachel said, drawing closer to Chloe, who felt a wave of Rachel’s scent envelope her and smiled.

Omegas weren’t like Alphas. They couldn’t pump pheromones out whenever they felt like it, for Omegas, that process was involuntary, a response to feelings and desires. If Rachel was pumping out so many pheromones, that had to mean that she really and truly wanted to comfort Chloe.

That knowledge, more than anything else, was what pushed Chloe to walk towards the door and open it, gesturing for Rachel to go first. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Rachel’s smile was blinding as she walked out of the door. Chloe shot one last longing look towards the window and then squared her shoulders and followed Rachel out the room.

She had survived Damon’s punishment. Surely she could also survive James Amber’s wrath.

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait! Trying to write James was a lot harder than I expected and life threw me a couple curve balls along the way 😨. But, I'm back! Hopefully next chapter will flow much more smoothly. Wish me luck and let me know if there's anything you would like to see in future chapters. I'm always open to ideas 👀.


	6. Blinded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, this was a great chapter to write but I think I'm going to stick to short and sweet in the future, this was a bitch to edit. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. See you at the end.

Chloe’s legs felt surprisingly steady as she followed Rachel down the hall.

Maybe it was because she had already hit some sort of cap on how much terror an Alpha could experience on a single day or maybe it was Rachel’s scent still clinging to her nose but either way, Chloe felt a lot less terrified than she had just a few minutes before.

 _I just have to go downstairs, try to not piss off the DA for five minutes while Rachel says our goodbyes and then I can get the hell out of this place,_ Chloe thought wistfully _._

When they reached the stairs, Chloe heard a muffled shout coming from the floor below and winced.

The sound was too quiet to pick out any words but it was followed by a string of angry whispers that were—for the most part—a little easier to understand. Chloe was able to make out a few words, _feral, dangerous_ and _my little girl,_ and that was more than enough for her to know what the conversation was about.

Rachel must have heard them too, because Chloe saw the Omega’s shoulders tense and her steps falter before she shrugged it off and kept going.

Chloe frowned and picked up the pace.

 _It’s going to be okay,_ she wanted to tell her, would have too, if they weren’t so close to the main floor _,_ _I’m not gonna let him get to me again._

_I got this._

Chloe’s confidence lasted right until the moment they entered the main room and she saw James arguing with a woman—who Chloe figured had to be Rachel’s mom—in the kitchen. The open plan of the room allowed her to see every angry gesture and flash of teeth of the argument and Chloe was profoundly grateful that neither one of them seemed to have noticed them yet.

Rachel didn’t seemed to be in a hurry to draw their attention—she was looking at the argument like she was spellbound—and Chloe took advantage of this to sniff the air and try and to get a feel of the room.

The first scent that hit her nose was Rachel’s, still clinging to Chloe’s clothes and hair, and it made her smile. Next, she picked up James’ Alpha pheromones—still as sour and angry as ever—but the scent was very mild and mostly overpowered by a cloyingly sweet smell.

 _The woman is an Omega,_ Chloe thought, taking a deep breath to examine the scent better.

The woman didn’t smell anything like Rachel, whose scent reminded Chloe of a sizzling campfire on a cold night and cinnamon candy melting on your tongue. Instead, the woman’s scent brought to Chloe's mind sticky cotton candy and melted caramel, along with the ache on your teeth after one to many candies.

Chloe frowned. Maybe she was wrong?

“Is that your Mom?” She asked, leaning down to whisper the question on Rachel’s ear.

The argument stopped abruptly and Chloe winced, feeling her courage desert her. With her hands starting to sweat and her heart pounding so fast inside her chest that she heard it thumping on her ears, Chloe looked up to find the couple staring straight at her, seemingly struck silent.

A moment passed.

“Hi,” Rachel said eventually, her cheerful voice completely out of place in the tense situation, “is everything okay?”

The woman turned towards Rachel as soon as she spoke, but James didn’t took his eyes off of Chloe for even a second and Chloe forced herself to return his gaze, clenching her hands into fists inside the hoodie’s pockets to stop them from shaking.

 _Neither cower nor dominate,_ she told herself, taking deep breaths, _neither cower nor dominate._

“Your dad and I were just talking, Rachel.” The woman said, her voice stern. “He told me what happened upstairs.”

Chloe saw the woman take a step forward out of the corner of her eye and gave a silent thanks to the universe that the anger wasn’t directed towards her. She was quickly discovering that she was really _, really_ bad with angry Omegas.

“Look Mom,” Rachel said, “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I had not idea any of this would happen when I brought Chloe home!”

 _So she is her mother,_ Chloe thought, still keeping her eyes fixed on James who returned the favor and kept trying to stare her down. Distantly, Chloe wondered just how many steps there were between her and the front door—that was thankfully behind her this time—and if James would be fast enough to catch her if she made a break for it.

“Why didn’t you tell me your friend was here?” Rachel's Mom asked. “We were very lucky that things didn’t end up a lot worse than they did.”

“I’m sorry! Chloe was soaking wet and she didn’t want anyone to see her. I had not idea Dad would react like that!”

“You should have told me anyway, honey. That was a  _really_ dangerous thing you just did.”

“I understand,” Rachel said, “I had no idea he would think she was an Alpha but I shouldn’t keep things from you anyway. I’m so sorry, Mom.”

Rachel sounded incredibly repentant and it made Chloe doubt whether the apology was real or if Rachel was really just that good of an actress. Either way, Chloe would be surprised if there was anyone in the world that wouldn’t forgive Rachel right then and there.

“It’s okay, honey. I know you just wanted to help your friend.” Rachel’s mom said, proving Chloe’s point immediately. “That’s not a bad thing.”

“I’m still sorry, Mom.”

James’ eyes flicked away from hers for a moment and Chloe wasted no time looking away and fixing her gaze on Rachel, who walked forward and wrapped her mom up in a hug.

 _Neither cower nor dominate,_ Chloe repeated mentally to herself, determined to stay out of any other staring contest that James wanted to initiate.

“Helping a friend is commendable,” James said and Chloe barely stopped herself from flinching at the sound of his voice, “but you have to be careful Rachel.”

Chloe saw Rachel nod, still wrapped in in her mom’s arms.

“Oh where are my manners,” Rachel’s mother said, stepping away from her daughter and walking towards Chloe. “I’m Rose Amber and this is my husband James.”

Rose extended her hand in greeting and Chloe shied away instinctively. This close, she could see the faded scar on the woman’s neck that marked her as James’ mate and it sent a bolt of panic through her. She was in enough trouble already with James without adding ‘touching his mate without his permission’ to the list.

Then, Chloe let out a shaky sigh and took her hand out of the hoodie’s pocket, shaking Rose’s hand without turning to see what James would think. “Nice to meet you.”

“I know this are not the best of circumstances but I hope you feel welcome in this house.” Rose said, smiling. “We’re glad to have you here, dear.”

“Okay!” Rachel said, clapping her hands. The sound made Chloe flinch and she cursed under her breath. She really needed to relax. “I’m glad we’re all getting along. Let me just walk Chloe to the door so she can go home and then we can about my punishment, okay?”

Chloe smiled.

“Nonsense. Stay for dinner. It’s the least I can do after the fright I gave you.” James said and Chloe’s heart sank to her knees.

Her hands started to shake again and Chloe took a couple of deep breaths to try and remain calm. There weren’t any pheromones in the air but somehow she still felt a wave of hostility radiating off of James. There was no way he bought that  she wasn’t an Alpha just yet.

And that was the worst news she had heard on an already shitty day.

“I already asked her, Dad.” Rachel said, still smiling jovially, even if Chloe could see the hint of something wrong on her too tense stance. “She says her Mom is waiting and she’ll worry if she’s not there soon.”

“She can call her from here.” James said, gesturing towards the phone sitting on a coffee table and smiling. “That way I can apologize to her too. I really can’t stress how sorry I am.”

He was the picture of innocence and Chloe was suddenly acutely aware of where Rachel had gotten her silver tongue from.

“Dad, that’s not…” Rachel faltered and her eyes found Chloe, who saw a question written on her face. She probably wanted to know if she could let him call Chloe’s home. Chloe shock her head slightly. There was no way in hell that adding David to the equation would make this situation anything but worse. “She’s gonna be late, we should just let her go home.”

“She’s right honey.” Rose said, putting her hand on James’ shoulder and Chloe felt a wave of relief wash through her. “Maybe we can take her?”

Chloe winced. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

“That’s an excellent idea, honey.” James said. “Let me go get my keys and I’ll take her home.”

“That’s not—” Chloe saw Rachel’s mask of calm crack and she took a deep breath.

“Don’t worry about it,” Chloe said, interrupting Rachel with a wry smile, “I can stay for dinner.”

Rachel looked genuinely shocked and Chloe clenched her fists inside the hoodie’s pocket, wishing fervently that she could explain how terrible it would be if James got a chance to talk to her mother or, worse yet, David—how it was equally important that James didn’t saw Chloe retreating as it was that he didn’t saw her as someone threatening—but she couldn’t say any of that an so Chloe had to settle for what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

“Perfect.” James said, looking like the cat who eat the canary as he walked towards his wife, who didn’t seemed to share his amusement.

“Are you sure, dear?” Rose asked Chloe with a concerned frown on her face. “It wouldn’t be a problem to take you home.”

Chloe swallowed hard, fighting the urge to tell everything to the Omega and hope she would make it better. “It’s fine. It wouldn't be the first time I got home a little late.”

“If you’re sure…”

“Come on, Rose. Let the girl be.” James said, walking towards Chloe, who tensed immediately. A wave of his scent—pleased and calm instead of threatening but equally revolting to her—crashed over Chloe and she winced, shoving her hands deeper on the hoodie’s pocket. “I’m sure she knows what she’s doing. Besides, I want to get to know Rachel’s new friend.” James’ hand landed on Chloe’s shoulder and she tried very hard not to look as scared as she felt.

Rose nodded and gestured towards the kitchen. “I still have a few things to do before dinner is ready, why don’t you make yourselves comfortable in the living room while I finish?”

James tightened his grip on Chloe’s shoulder. It wasn’t enough to be painful but Chloe winced anyway. “That’s an excellent idea.”

“Do you need help with dinner, Mom?” Rachel asked and Chloe wouldn’t have guessed that anything was wrong by her easy body language. “We would be happy to help.” She said, gesturing towards Chloe and herself.

“Don’t worry honey, you can go relax with your friend while I finish things here.”

“It wouldn’t be a problem.” Rachel said. “We would be happy to help.”

There was a pause and then Chloe saw Rachel turn towards her with an incredulous look.

“Yes!” Chloe hurried to say, catching the hint. “I would love to help.”

“Well, if you’re sure…” Rose said, glancing at the kitchen and then back towards them. “I’m sure I can find something for you to do.”

“I’m sure you can make do with Rachel’s help only.” James said and Chloe felt him tighten his grip on her shoulder. “That way the girl and I will have more time to get to know each other.” James pulled back on Chloe’s shoulders and she looked up to meet his eyes. “I really need to apologize.”

 _Of course,_ Chloe thought, _nothing can go right for me today._

“Chloe.” Rachel said suddenly and Chloe’s eyes widened. Rachel’s easy air had fallen to pieces and her tone was almost angry as she looked at her father. “Her name is Chloe.”

“Chloe, then.” James said and Chloe forced herself to smile, forgetting her own nerves to offer some comfort to Rachel.

“Don’t worry.” She said, doing her best to keep smiling. “Your dad and I will be okay. Go help your mom.”

Rachel nodded, staring deeply into Chloe’s eyes before turning to follow her mother into the kitchen.

When they were gone, James squeezed Chloe’s shoulder lightly and Chloe followed the pressure he applied as he lead her towards the couches. “Let them work,” he said, “you know how much they love this.”

Chloe frowned and slumped into the couch closest to the door that also let her face the kitchen. “How much they love what?” She asked, for lack of anything better to say.

“Oh you know,” James said, taking a seat on the couch in front of her, “they like to do those kind of things for us. They’re nurturers. If they can’t cook for their family what are they going to do?”

James clearly expected her to laugh but Chloe couldn’t even manage a smile. After a long time hanging around Damon, she had learned how to bite her tongue when someone held opinions like James’, but it was a close thing.

Omegas were nurturers, sure, but it was no different from the Alpha drive to protect, if you asked Chloe. For some Omegas, taking care of their family might mean cooking for them or doing chores while for others it meant going out and making the world a better place or making piles of money to keep them comfortable.

“I’m sorry, I didn't mean to offend you,” James said, eventually, “I know kids nowadays prefer some truths to remain unspoken.”

If she tried, Chloe could still till see her dad making breakfast in the morning and how happy he was to keep his family well fed and healthy.

“I don’t mind,” Chloe said, forcing herself to agree with him but making sure to meet his eyes as she did, “I don’t hang out with a lot of Omegas, so you probably know better.”

James’ eyebrows rose and Chloe had to fight down a smile. He probably didn’t expected her to agree with him. He might have even been trying to goad her on purpose, but Chloe wasn’t about to fall for that.

Alphas were pack creatures, even more so than Omegas and above all they liked to know their place in the pack. When two Alphas met each other for the first time it was expected that they would try to figure out who was on top and why. Back in more savages times that involved a lot of fighting but nowadays it was a more subtle game and one that Chloe was very used to playing after so much time on Damon’s pack

Not so Betas, who couldn’t smell pheromones and weren’t subjected to their whims. By agreeing with him, she was being submissive, but meeting his eyes and not cowering made the gesture a contradictory one, but very much in line for Betas, who neither cowered nor tried to dominate others.

_And I must be a Beta, if I want to get out of here in one piece._

“I’m sorry that you thought I was going to attack you.” James said eventually, crossing his legs on the couch. “It wasn’t my intention to scare you.”

 _Your intention was to kill me._ Chloe thought, but nodded anyway. “It’s fine.”

“She’s a very special girl.” James said, turning away from Chloe to watch the kitchen. Chloe followed his gaze and saw Rachel rummaging for something in the kitchen. “I thought you were an Alpha and you know how Alphas are at your age. It’s enough to make someone go crazy.”

Chloe closed her eyes and bit her tongue to keep her mouth shut. She remembered the weeks after she first presented and how the Caulfields had refused to let her see Max.

Her dad had been furious when she told him and had gone to their house to talk to them, unaware that Chloe had followed him. She heard when Max’s dad told him it was just a matter of time until she grew up and then ‘you know how teenage Alphas are’ and ‘if your daughter was the Omega you would understand’.

Her father hadn’t. She hadn’t caught what he had said to him but Max was back to playing with her within the week and that was all that mattered to her.

“It’s alright.” Chloe said, biting her tongue so hard that she tasted blood where her fang had pierced skin. “I know how Alphas are. I wouldn’t have ended up soaking wet without them.”

“Are you around a lot of Alphas?”

“There’s plenty of them in Blackwell,” Chloe said, “and my step-father is an Alpha.”

James didn’t said anything and it took a moment for Chloe to figure out that he was waiting for her to elaborate. Keeping her mouth firmly closed, Chloe turned toward the kitchen where Rachel was mixing something that looked like a salad and glancing towards the living room every so often.

When their eyes met, Chloe smiled.

_I got this._

“How did you met my daughter?” James said, drawing Chloe’s attention back to him.

_Has Rachel told him about the concert? It doesn’t seem likely…_

“A bully was messing with me.” Chloe said, thinking back to the Alpha at the Mill, holding her against the support beam. Sticking close to the truth was probably the best idea. “Rachel saved me.”

“Isn’t that what happened today?” James asked and Chloe nodded. “You seemed to get into a lot of trouble for a Beta, young lady.”

“Nothing I can’t get out of,” Chloe said, smiling sincerely for the first time since she left Rachel’s room, “with a little help from my friends, of course.”

James laughed softly. It was the first time that Chloe had heard him laugh since they met and she frowned. It was a very reserved sound but not one she disliked immediately, which surprised her.

“Is that what she is?” James asked, gesturing towards the kitchen. “A friend?”

“We haven’t known each other for long but yes,” Chloe said, smiling to herself, “I would like to think we are.”

_It’s been a while since I’ve had a friend._

James leaned forward and met her eyes. It was hard to remain calm—with Chloe’s instincts demanding that she either cowered or growled—but Chloe did her best to meet his gaze like she had nothing to hide.

“She’s my princess, you know?” James said and leaned away from Chloe, landing heavily on the couch. “I just want her to be safe.”

“I’m pretty sure she can take care of herself,” Chloe said, laughing quietly when she remembered the fierce girl in the forest that had seemed ready to kick Damon’s ass to help her.

“That she does,” James said and she saw a proud glint in his eyes that made Chloe dislike him a little less than before against her will, “but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to protect her.”

Chloe sighed. “I get that.”

“Guys!” Rachel said, bouncing into the room and giving Chloe’s fragile heart a scare. “Dinner’s ready!”

“Great.” James said. He stood up and then offered his hand to Chloe. “I’m starving.”

Chloe smiled and took his hand to pull herself up. It seemed they had reached an understanding. “Me too.”

If Rachel was surprised by the lack of hostility between them, she didn’t showed it, smiling widely at both of them and leaning against her father’s side, who bent down to whisper something in Rachel’s ear that Chloe didn’t catch as lead her to the dining room.  

The table was already set when they arrived. James and Rachel both sat down immediately—with James sitting at the head of the table and Rachel at his left—but Chloe stood rooted in place for a moment, watching the impeccably set table, multiple salads and matching plates and cutlery and feeling incredibly out of place.

“Here,” Rachel said, patting the chair to her left, “sit down.”

Chloe did and watched as Rose came out of the kitchen with her hands full of plates. She put one down in front of James, then on the empty seat to his right, one in front of Rachel and finally she came to Chloe’s seat, who moved awkwardly to the side to let Rose put the plate down without touching her.

Once she was done, Rose sat down on the seat to James’ right.

It irked Chloe’s instincts—how James was sitting at the position of power on the table with both Omegas at his side and was the first to have food on his plate—but it was easy to let the feeling slide and be grateful that she was the one closest to the door, with Rachel and a good part of the table between her and James, even if it seemed he was okay with her now.

“Everything looks delicious,” James said, and Chloe looked down at her plate for the first time, blinking in bewilderment. In the center of the plate sat a raw looking fish that was bathed in a lumpy white sauce that couldn’t have looked less appetizing if it tried. “Thank you dear.”

Chloe sniffed her plate, frowning.

“Yeah Mom,” Rachel said, and Chloe saw her reach for a salad that seemed chock full of spinach and lettuce and piling it high on her plate, “it looks amazing.”

Chloe grabbed her fork and poked the fish a couple of times halfheartedly, wincing internally at the texture.

“Everything okay, dear?” Rose asked and Chloe looked away from the dish and met the woman’s eyes.

“Yep,” Chloe said, cutting a piece of fish and shoving it into her mouth. It was definitely still somewhat raw, and although the taste wasn’t as bad as Chloe had imagined, she was definitely not eating it again if she could help it. “Delicious.”

“I’m glad you liked it.” Rose said, smiling politely.

Chloe reached for the salad. She recognized the onions, spine and lettuce easily enough, but had some trouble with the mushrooms and a white, stringy vegetable-like thing that she wasn’t sure she had seen before. Chloe served a tiny bit on her plate and put it back down, taking a big bite of the fish.

James was finally getting off her back and the last thing she needed was to insult him by rejecting his mate’s cooking.

Everyone focused on their food for a while—Chloe wolfing down the food gladly once she got pass the taste and realized just how hungry she was—until James dropped his cutlery to the side and cleared his throat.

“So, Chloe, was it?” James asked and Chloe nodded, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “How do you like Blackwell? Are you also interested in the arts? Rachel always talks about how much fun she has in the Drama club.”

“I draw,” Chloe said, pushing a bit of mushroom to the side and spearing a spinach with her fork, “but no, not really. I like science better.”

“A noble pursuit, certainly.” James said, taking a sip from his glass.

Chloe was about to agree when a hand landed on her knee and her whole body twitched in surprise. Still high strung, she turned towards Rachel and met her eyes.

“I didn’t know you could draw.” Rachel said, smiling softly. “That’s amazing.”

“They’re doodle’s mostly.” Chloe said, swallowing hard. Rachel didn’t seemed to be in a hurry to take her hand off of Chloe’s knee and the contact stirred a flurry of feelings inside Chloe’s chest. “But yeah, I do.”

“Do you like your classes?” Rose asked and Chloe flitted her eyes towards her.

 _I think I used to, at some point,_ Chloe thought, _even when they called me names and laughed at my clothes._

“Sure I do,” Chloe said, smiling wryly, “great teachers.”

“Good.” James said. “I’ve heard very good things from Rachel and her friends. I’m glad you agree.”

“Speaking of your friends,” Rose said, leaning forward in her seat, “how’s Victoria doing?”

Still watching her from the corner of her eye, Chloe was surprised when Rachel’s entire body language change in a second. Her shoulders tensed and the easy going air around shattered as if it had never been there in the first place.

She also dropped her hand from Chloe’s knee and Chloe mourned the contact immediately.

“She’s fine.” Rachel said and Chloe’s alarm levels went up a notch. Her voice sounded strangely flat and it clashed with every memory Chloe had of Rachel, who always seemed to be bursting with feelings. “I talked to her a couple of days ago.”

“Her father called me a few days ago,” James said, seemingly oblivious to his daughter's reaction, “they’re thinking of visiting her soon.”

“That’s great, I’m sure she misses them.” Rachel said, her eyes fixed on the plate and voice still strangely flat.

Chloe frowned. What was she missing?

“It would be a great chance for you to meet them.” Rose chimed in and something in her voice sat wrong with Chloe too. “Maybe we can all have dinner together.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude, she doesn’t see them very often.” Rachel said, sighing. “I know she misses them.”

“Nonsense,” James said and Chloe gritted her teeth. “I’m sure she will be thrilled to have you there.”

There was a pause and James shared a look with Rose. Something cold settled on Chloe’s chest and she turned back towards her plate, clenching her hands into fists under the table.

“I’m told she’s a very smart, capable and driven Alpha.” Rose said, a smile clear in her voice. “Not bad looking, either.”

Chloe’s nails weren’t long enough to dig into her skin, but she was sure that her hands would be bloody by now if they were, given how hard she was clenching her fists.

“That she is.” Rachel agreed and a sort of detached numbness slithered along Chloe’s spine. It reminded her of the feeling she had gotten when James had grabbed Rachel in the room, like a shroud of protection from her own feelings.

“Has she asked you out yet?” Rose asked and the feeling grew inside Chloe’s chest.

“No, not yet.” Rachel said, and and even though her voice was subdued, Chloe heard a hint of steel behind the words.

“She’ll ask you out soon enough, dear.” Rose said. “How could she not want you?”

 _Fuck Victoria and what she wants_ , Chloe thought viciously, _Rachel deserves someone better than that stuck up asshole._

“Maybe it’s a good thing that you’re not giving her the time of the day just yet,” James said, leaning back, “that will teach her a lesson about patience.”

The feeling slithered higher inside her body, slipping into her lungs and straightening her spine.

“She’s not going to wait forever, either.” Rose said. “I give it a couple more months before they’re dating.”

“She’s not going to ask me out.” Rachel said, pushing away from the table. The screeching sound cut through the growing fog on Chloe’s brain. “We’re just friends.”

Chloe gasped soundlessly, grabbing the edge of her chair and holding on tightly. The pain on her hands grounded her. She felt as if she had just ran a marathon, with her heart hammering inside her chest and her limbs shaking with too much energy.

“Oh, honey,” James said and if Chloe wasn’t so busy trying to stop herself from shaking she would have taken offense to his condescending tone. “You can’t really believe that.”

Chloe glanced towards Rachel, who was glaring daggers down at her plate.

“We are just friends, Dad.” Her voice was all steel and it drew a fleeting smile from Chloe.

“Alphas and Omegas can’t be friends, honey.” James said, laughing. “Specially at this age.“ He turned towards Chloe and gave her a conspiratorial grin, like he thought she would get it. “Teenage Alphas are only after one thing, you know? That’s why I was so worried about that little scene upstairs.”

“That’s not true.” Rachel said, but her voice was barely a whisper.

“I thought we talked about this, Rachel.” James said, sighing. “The urges are just too strong for them to do anything else. I would know, honey.”

Rachel opened her mouth to object but no words came out and kept her gaze down, silent. Chloe’s mind flashed back to the time Damon, sitting down in the middle of the Mill with and Omega on his lap, had told her the exact same thing. That Alphas and Omegas can’t ever be friends. That they’re too drawn to each other for that.

_“One is always going to want to fuck the other, pup.” Damon said, laughing as he ran his hand down the Omega’s hair, who giggled drunkenly. “It’s just the way the world is.”_

“Bullshit.” Chloe growled.

Everyone in the room turn towards her but Chloe only had eyes for James, who looked shocked as he met her gaze.

“What did you just say?” James asked, standing up.

His voice was deceptively calm but Chloe smelled the wave of pheromones that accompanied the question and the low growl that was rumbling inside his chest, warning her to stop and submit.

It was a good thing that Chloe didn’t cared.

She hadn’t found the courage to disagree with Damon back then but there was no force on earth that could stop her now. She remembered clearly how—after Chloe’s dad had talked to Max’s father—she had been allowed to play with Max again, but the looks both of Max’s parents had given her would stay seared on her brain forever; like she was something dangerous.

But not Max.

She had found Chloe sulking about it and had given her the biggest of hugs and told her, in that earnest voice she only managed when things were truly important that: “ _You’re still my Chloe, Alpha or not, and Chloe is my best friend. She would never hurt me.”_

Back then, that had been the only thing that mattered to her.

“I said you’re full of shit, man.” Chloe said, standing up and putting her most obnoxiously self-confident grin. “Just because you’re a horny bastard it doesn’t mean the rest of us are the same.”

There was a gasp, Chloe wasn’t sure if it was from Rose or Rachel and frankly she didn’t much care. She was busy watching James’ face twitch with repressed anger.

“You’re an Alpha.” James growled. It wasn’t a question but Chloe smirked in answer all the same. “What did you do to my daughter?!” He asked, slamming his hands into the table.

Chloe saw both Omegas push away from the table at about the same time and smirked, rounding the table to stand on the opposite end from James. If she was going down, she was going down in flames.

“Nothing she didn’t want me to.”

Things happened in almost slow motion after that.

Chloe saw James clench his hand into fist and barely had time to step back before James launched himself across the table, scattering plates and food across the floor as he trashed on top of the table like a madman in his desperation to get her.

 _If he had been lucid enough to go around instead of over, I would be dead_ , Chloe thought deliriously, frozen in place as James snarled and scrambled to find his footing long enough to launch himself at her again.

“Come on!” Rachel shouted in her ear, shaking Chloe out of her shock and pulling her towards the door. Chloe tried to turn and _run_ but she was shaking too badly and stumbled on the first step, only managing to stay on her feet thanks to Rachel steadying presence at her side, who didn’t let her stop and all but dragged her to the front door and out of the house.

“You have to get out of here.” Rachel said nervously. “Now!”

“Me?” Chloe asked incredulously, the drastic change in temperature outside the house snapping her from her stupor. “I’m not leaving you here with him!”

“Yes you are.” Rachel said, taking a step back. “He’s not going to hurt us, not even close, but if I leave with you he’s going to kill you when he finds us.”

Chloe frowned, following the logic but unable to silence the voice that demanded that she didn’t leave Rachel alone with James. A resounding _crack_ —like a wood breaking—came from the house and Chloe made up her mind.

“You sure?” Chloe asked, already turning to run away.

Rachel nodded. “Absolutely.”

“Okay, then.” Chloe grumbled. Before she could take off running, a hand landed on her shoulder and stopped her in her tracks. Chloe turned back towards Rachel and tilted her head in question.

“You’re crazy, Chloe Price.” Rachel said and the smile on her face was blinding. “Thank you.”

Then Rachel ran inside the house and slammed the door shut.

Chloe stood there for a long moment, watching the door with her mouth open, before coming back to her senses and taking off down the street until she couldn’t run any longer and a bit more after that.

When she finally stopped—almost all the way back to Blackwell—Chloe laid down on the curb face up and gulped down air like mad.

 _What a day,_ Chloe thought, still breathing hard, _what a fucking day._

It took several minutes for Chloe to catch her breath and during that time she became acutely aware that her ragged breaths were the only sound on the otherwise empty street and that even with Rachel’s warm hoodie on, the cold was seeping into her bones from the floor up.

“Okay, Price,” she grumbled, “get it together.”

It was a slow going, but Chloe managed to get to her feet despite her shaking legs and started walking towards her home again, missing her skateboard with every step and feeling more and more tired with every passing second.

Several minutes later, when she was so close to her home that she could almost taste it, a garbled ring startled Chloe into awareness and made her jump from the sharp contrast to the otherwise silent street.

Chloe pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and watched it in wonder. The colors on the screen were distorted, with some spots shining brighter than others and shapes like water droplets marring the image, but it was still visible enough for her to realize that it was Frank calling her.

“Hello?” Chloe said, sitting down on the curb to take the call. The last thing she needed was to wake David up when she tried to sneak into the house.

“Price?” The sound was distorted but Frank’s voice was still clearly recognizable. “You there?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, kicking her feet out, “what’s up?”

“I got a job for you, Price. I need you to see me after school tomorrow.”

Chloe groaned. The only thing she wanted right now was to sleep for a week. “Does it have to be tomorrow? I'm beat.”

There was a pause long enough to make Chloe think that her poor phone had finally crapped out before Frank spoke again.

“Are you okay?” Frank asked, his voice impossibly small on the almost dead speakers.

Chloe wasn’t sure how to answer that, so she opted for being glib.

“Aww, I knew that deep down that bean loving heart of yours you cared about me.”

“Fuck off, Price.” Frank growled and Chloe smiled. “I need someone to run my errands for me and that’s not gonna happen if Damon murdered you.”

“I’m fine,” Chloe said, looking up at the moon, “Damon just dunked me in a river.”  

“I know. He told me.” Frank said and the line went silent again for a moment. “You sure you’re okay?” He asked eventually and Chloe smiled at the obvious concern in his voice. “It’s cold out tonight.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. I’m okay.” She said, making sure her voice sounded more sincere.

“Well, don’t be late tomorrow. The job’s important.”

“You got it dude.” Chloe said, sighing.

Chloe was about to hang up when Frank’s voice came from the speakers again.

“You sure you’re okay Price?” Frank asked and Chloe felt something warm bloom on her chest at his concern. “If you’re huddled somewhere in the forest trying not to die just tell me already and I’ll come get you.”

Chloe laughed.  

“I’m fine.” Chloe said, smiling widely at the night sky. “I got dry clothes on and I’m a couple of blocks away from home, but thanks for asking, man. I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t let it get to your head, pup.” Frank said and even the crappy speakers couldn’t hide his fondness. “Get some rest. I need you fresh tomorrow.”

Then the call disconnected.

“Asshole.” Chloe said fondly, giving her phone a little pat on the back to congratulate it for surviving the day along with her and struggling to her feet.

She couldn’t wait to get to be home.

When said home actually came into view, Chloe’s enthusiasm lessened considerably. The lights in the kitchen were on and unless someone had forgotten to turn them off—unlikely, since money had been tight for a while now and keeping the lights on when everyone was asleep was a stupid waste—it meant someone was awake and quite likely waiting for her.

 _Just_ the thing she needed to finish off an already shitty day.

She didn’t bothered with stealth as she jammed her keys in the lock and opened the door, watching the kitchen with surprise.There was no one waiting for her anywhere that she could see.

Maybe someone had forgotten, after all?

She turned to close the door a bit more quietly and her heart almost leaped out of her chest when she felt a hard shove to the back. Chloe stumbled right out the door, managing to stay on her feet for two steps before her right leg gave out from under her and she ended up skidding across the stone path hands first.

It took a second for the world to right itself after she came to a stop and the first thing Chloe did was take a mental inventory of what hurt and what didn’t, wincing with every new discovery.

“Are you drunk?” A voice called out from the doorway and Chloe closed her eyes. Of course it was _fucking_ David.

“No, I’m not.” Chloe said, lifting herself off of the ground. Something pulsed with pain on her wrist and Chloe looked down to see and angry red scrape—about the size of a dime—bleeding sluggishly. “Look, dud-”

“Don’t think I didn’t heard you, stumbling into the house drunk out of your ass last night.” David said and Chloe’s stomach gave the biggest tumble of the day when David’s pheromones started to cover the lawn.

Something prickled in the corner of Chloe’s eyes and she raised a hand to her nose to try to block out his scent. “Look, I had a really, _really_ , shitty day. Can we _please_ do this another time?

“So you can slip out the window and dodge your responsibilities again?” David asked, stepping up to Chloe before she could back away and wrenching her hand from her face. “No, thank you.”

This was the last straw. His scent was rotten and Chloe ran to the side of the house, leaning against it with one hand and gagging.

“And you have the gall to claim that you’re not drunk.” David said, scoffing.

Chloe wanted to kill him.

“I’m. Not. Drunk.” She said between gritted teeth, refusing to lose her dinner in front of David and pushing down the wave of nausea with sheer stubbornness alone.

“Then what’s wrong with you?” David asked. “You’re stumbling around the place and puking in the bushes like you’re drunk out of your ass.”

 _You pushed me,_ Chloe thought, swallowing hard, _with your scent and with your hands, asshole._

“I’m just exhausted.” Chloe said eventually. “Just let me go to bed and we'll talk tomorrow. I promise.”

“I’m tired too, Chloe, but I’m still here, trying to make this work. That’s what you have to learn, persistence! Not giving up when things get hard and committing to what we do. That’s what makes us Alphas.”

Chloe wanted to shout, tell him to go to hell and stay there but the prickle on her eyes had grown to unbearable levels and she feared what would come out of her mouth if she opened it.

“Are you listening to me?” David asked and Chloe nodded, not turning around to face him. “When I moved in a year ago, I promised your mother that I would help take care of you. Teach you how to be a good Alpha.”

“My dad taught me how to be a good Alpha,” Chloe growled, turning around to face David with her teeth bared, “the only thing you taught me is how to stink up a room.

She had meant the words to come out loud and defiant but they sounded strained and weak instead and Chloe looked down at her feet, mortified.

“Are you—” David stopped and she saw him walked towards him. “Are you crying?”

“Fuck off!” Chloe snarled, feeling tears trail down her face as she did.

"Watch your language!” David said and his scent surrounded Chloe again. “You have to understand how Alphas work. We’re pack and that means—”

“You’re not in my pack!” Chloe cried out, unable to stop a sob from coming out of her mouth. Goddammit. “Leave me the hell alone!”

“Crying is not going to solve anything in your life!” David shouted, and Chloe could barely see him through the tears streaming down her face. “You have to toughen up and do it fast if you want to go anywhere in the world.”

“Fuck you!” Chloe shouted and pushed past him to run into the house, uncaring of anything except her fierce desire to get away from him with her eyes blurry with tears and her chest shaking with barely contained sobs.

She heard David called out to her, telling her they were not done talking, but Chloe couldn’t care less about what he wanted. She ran into her room and slammed the door shut, leaning her back against it and slipping to the floor, still crying.

Chloe wiped angrily at her eyes. Stupid tears. Stupid feelings. She had to be the worst Alpha in the whole fucking world to be crying like this.

Without quite meaning to, her father’s words from many years ago came back to Chloe and another sob wrenched itself from her chest.

She had gotten sick a scant two days after presenting and he had found her curled up in bed, sobbing her eyes out. Chloe had been so worried that he would think she was being a bad Alpha for crying and that just made it harder to stop. Her Dad had pulled her into a hug and told her that nothing she did would ever make her less of an Alpha.

_“You’re an Alpha.” He had told her, rocking her in his arms. “Everything you do is an Alpha thing to do simply because it’s you doing it.”_

The memory tore another sob from Chloe’s mouth and she gritted her teeth, feeling the loss of her father like a hole in her chest.

He would never be there to hug her again.

It made her angry. The angriest she had been all day and Chloe scrambled to her feet, grabbing the bat she had stolen from American rust and slamming it against her mattress as hard as she could.

It made a satisfying _thump_ that was louder than her tears and the force of her swing made Chloe’s arms hurt.

She did it again.

_Thump._

She would never get to talk to him again.

_Thump._

No matter what she did, she would always be the girl without a Father.

_Thump._

He was never coming back.

_Thump._

He had left her all alone with fucking David.

_Thump._

Max was gone.

_Thump._

Damon had tossed her into a fucking river.

_Thump._

She had been _so scared._

Chloe was crying harder than before and her arms were throbbing but she couldn’t stop, raising the bat above her head to take another swing at the mattress.

A cheery tune filled the room before she could, the sound garbled from the water in the speaker.

Chloe stopped, dropping the bat with numb hands and sitting down on the abused bed. Her breath was even more ragged than before with the exertion and tears were streaming down her face, but she didn't cared. That was the sound of a message and a small, hopeful part inside Chloe couldn’t help but think it might be Max.

Chloe wiped the tears from her eyes as best she could with her sleeve and took out the phone from her pocket, still sobbing quietly. The water-marred screen was lit up with a text from an unknown number and Chloe read the message silently.

How’re you doing?

 _Maybe Max got a new number?_ Chloe thought as she read the text, cursing the hope that filled her chest. Max didn’t cared about her. No one did.

Who is this?

A new text chimed in immediately.

Forgot about me already?

I would have thought my father alone would make me memorable.

Rachel?

How did you get my number?

I have my ways.

Are you okay? It was one hell of a day.

Chloe laughed raggedly. It was a wet sound filled with tears but it was a laugh nonetheless.

I should be the one asking you that.

Your dad got pretty scary.

Everything is fine.

I’m not even grounded!

Chloe laughed again, falling back against the bed.

How the hell did that happened?

I told my dad I had no idea you were an Alpha either.

Chloe snorted, only Rachel could get away with something like that.

And he actually bought that?

You should know by now, Price.

I’m just that good.

Chloe smiled, curling up on the bed with the phone clutched in both hands.

Can you tell me something good?

A happy memory?

She felt foolish as soon as she wrote it but Rachel replied almost immediately.

Sure, is everything OK?

Yeah, I just… want to hear something happy.

The phone rang in her hand and Chloe panicked. The last thing she wanted was for Rachel to hear her she had been crying, but the temptation of hearing Rachel’s voice won out and she picked up the phone.

“Rach—” Chloe began, but she didn’t even got to fish the word before Rachel interrupted her.

“So,” Rachel said, cutting Chloe off like she hadn’t spoken, “when I was younger my Dad took us on a vacation to Spain and it was incredible! I loved the weather and everyone was super nice—” 

Rachel kept talking and Chloe smiled, sitting up long enough to kick off her still soaked shoes and Rachel’s jeans off her legs before falling  back in her bed with her battered phone next to her ear.

In that moment, there was no David or Damon or James.

No disappointed mom or distant friend.

The only thing that existed was Rachel.

And that was just fine with Chloe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think one of the most fascinating things about Rachel for me is just how highly Chloe thought of her and how much pain she was able to endure because Rachel was beside her. I wanted to convey a bit of that here, along with with a big dose of word building. 
> 
> The title is borrowed from the song by the same name (Blinded) by Riley Hawke. I listened to it a lot while writing this, specially the ending.


End file.
